Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

What a great year it was, and what a great year it is going to be! I'm especially excited because January marks our new director's (Dave) first month officially on staff at Ranger. No more solo-office work for Gregie!

Anyhow, have some great holidays. Spend some time drinking Egg Nog, hang out with the fam', and get some rest. And finally, don't get too wrapped up in giving and getting, but rest in Christ, knowing that He is the greatest Gift.

See you in 2008!

Greg's Greatest Hits

It's a winter tradition. No, not egg nog (although that's delicious)! People hitting my vehicles! We just bought a van and someone "christened" it by performing a hit-and-run in front of our Saskatoon office. Thankfully we had a witness and the guy eventually turned himself in. This is the 3rd year in a row someone hit one of our vehicles...

So the moral of the story? Don't get worked up if someone hits your vehicle in the winter.
Just cool off.
Sorry, I slid right into that one.
Coincidence? These puns are no accident!
I better go before I crash this blog.

...have a smashing day? (insert sound of collective groaning and rolling of eyes)

Christmas Party

Well, it's that time of year again... and time for Ranger's annual Christmas Party! Naturally, because you are all staff, you are all invited.

It's on Thursday, Dec. 20th. Supper starts at 6:30pm, followed by some good times and visiting. We'll wrap it all up by 9:30pm. It's at the Youth for Christ building here in Saskatoon: 1338 Ave B N (just behind J.D. Peppercorn's on Idylwyld).

It doesn't cost anything to attend, but you must bring a $5 gift for our inaugural gift exchange.

You must email me (greg@rlbc.ca) by Dec. 17th to let me know if you're coming just so that we'll have enough food.

We can't wait to see you all again... Merry Christmas!

Pregnant Wife Quote of the Week #2

5:00pm I am just getting supper ready....

Jessica: Hmmm. I think I'm gonna have a piece of cake.

Youth Quake '08

I've gotta put a little plug in for my alma mater, Briercrest College. In February they're hosting one of the country's premiere Christian youth events: Youth Quake. It looks like it'll be a life changer, so check it out.

Speaking of which, Briercrest is a great place to meet God and to get to know His Word. For Christians, a Bible education is essential! I went to Bible College for 4 years and don't regret it; if you have any questions about Bible College, let me know.)

One last thing. One of the guests at Youth Quake is Family Force 5. I hadn't heard of them until last week, and I just checked out their music video "Love Addict" this morning. Man, I'm getting old; the Christian music scene has changed so much since I was in High School. Anyhow, this group has drawn a lot of accolades along with criticism, and I want to hear your impression of the band. Watch the video and let me know in the comments.



link disclaimer: RLBC is not associated/affiliated with any content on YouTube other than its own.

No "I" in Church

There is no “I” in “Church”

I love video games. When N64 just came out (you probably don’t remember this) one of the hottest games was Goldeneye. My friends and I would play it for hours... it was the most fun when you were maxed out with 4 people playing at the same time, but it wasn’t always easy to find 3 other people who knew how to play, so we’d recruit new people who weren’t any good. “Noobs” if you will.

One of our friends, Brad, was an uber-noob. He was bad. He really sucked. He got so frustrated because when we’d play, he’d be in last place every time. Poor Brad. And if that wasn’t enough, we’d tease him about how bad he was, and intentionally try to make him do terrible. Poor, poor Brad. Brad got sick of this abuse and quit playing with us.

Ever feel like you’re not needed? Like if you disappeared, nothing would change? Part of life is figuring out who you are and where you fit in, what your purpose in life is. The Bible talks about how all kinds of different people are needed in the church:

1Cor. 12:12-22

The body of Christ has many different parts, just as any other body does. Suppose a foot says, "I'm not a hand, and so I'm not part of the body." Wouldn't the foot still belong to the body? Or suppose an ear says, "I'm not an eye, and so I'm not part of the body." Wouldn't the ear still belong to the body? If our bodies were only an eye, we couldn't hear a thing. And if they were only an ear, we couldn't smell a thing. But God has put all parts of our body together in the way that he decided is best.

A body isn't really a body, unless there is more than one part. It takes many parts to make a single body. That's why the eyes cannot say they don't need the hands. That's also why the head cannot say it doesn't need the feet. In fact, we cannot get along without the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest.

I’ve often wished that I was more talented. How many times did I want to be the funniest guy in class or the best looking guy in school? Even though we can change our behaviour, we can’t change who we are. God gives us gifts that we need to use to honor him. If we don’t use these gifts, we feel useless. Part of belonging is being useful, and each of us can be useful if we follow God’s way, not our own.

Be useful. Get involved! The things you’re good at? They’re not just for you to solely enjoy or hide away because you’re embarrassed, unsure, selfish, etc. God gave them to you so you can give them back to Him. Find out what your spiritual gifts are and use them to glorify God and help others.

Pregnant Wife Quote of the Week

Jessica: "Greg, pass me that box of chocolate bars."

Where Do I Belong?

Have you ever been somewhere and not known anybody? My wife asked me to tag along to one of her work friends’ weddings. I didn’t know a soul, and she just bought a new camera and was taking oodles of pictures of the happy couple, while I just sat at my table alone. I tried striking up conversation with people around the table, but they were more interested in talking with each other than getting to know “Jessica’s husband.” There are a few things that can suck the life out of you, and feeling like you don’t fit in is definitely one of them.

Gen 2:18a The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”

Now this isn’t just in the Bible, it’s a very important “first”. This is the first thing that God says is wrong with His creation. It’s not good for the man to be alone. Adam was created first, and he was by himself, and it wasn’t good, so God gave him someone to spend his life with. God said “It is not good for the man to be alone” way back then, and things haven’t changed. It still is not good for us to be alone.

Loneliness has different faces: You can be in a group full of people you don’t know, or at home by yourself, you can be alone because no one knows how tough your life is, or you can be alone because no one can relate to your good looks. No matter what it is, it isn’t good. So what do we do if we are lonely? Maybe a better question is “how do we help people who feel alone?”

First off, I don’t think there is any “quick cure” to this problem, and I don’t want to sound like I can make everything and solve this problem right now, but I do want to offer you my advice:

Jesus didn’t avoid these lonely people, the outcasts, the misfits, and we shouldn’t avoid these people either! Being a Christian means being part of the answer to the question, “Where do I belong?” I know not all Christians have it down, but we aim to be people who accept people for who they are and love them just like Jesus loved them. The Church is God’s answer for the loneliness problem, and that is why we are all here. The Church promises a place for everyone to belong, no matter who we are or what we’ve done. In the same way, camp is a place to belong, a place to figure things out and a place to serve. We’re here because we’ve found some good news and want to share it! This is our camp, our place to belong and anyone is welcome. Through this, we bring glory to God and honor Him.

Welcome Back!

So, I totally forgot to say that I was on vacation for the last week and a bit. Let me tell you, Mexico is awesome, and if you ever get the chance to go... do it.

Anyhow, I'll post some ridiculously deep thoughts tomorrow... I gotta get ready for our annual meeting tonight!

Video of the Week

Here's the "Best Of" Stymie video that we played at the Fall Banquet. Enjoy!

link disclaimer: RLBC is not associated/affiliated with any content on YouTube other than its own.

New Director!

Wednesday is Paul's last day on staff at Ranger (*sob*), but his position is not remaining empty. At our Fall Banquet on Saturday we announced that Dave Thiessen accepted the Executive Director position and starts full time in January. You may know Dave as the guy who is always shooting guns, lighting fireworks, helping in the kitchen and kissing the head cook (don't worry, Jan's his wife)!

John, the Ranger board, and I are absolutely pumped to have the Thiessens officially joining our staff team and look forward to many amazing years to come!

Cravings Question Of The Day

What Halloween candy do you crave the most?

Soul Cravings

My wife Jessica is pregnant. Really pregnant. One thing that always amazes me is how her desire for food changes when she is pregnant. She can't snack enough, she can't eat B-B-Q sauce, our Halloween candy supply is almost gone before Oct. 31st (I'll take partial responsibility for that one) and chocolate milk reigns supreme. We used to only get a litre or two of the stuff every few months or so as a treat, but we've gone through 8 litres in the last month. Whenever she's enjoying a glass of chocolate milk, she usually tells me, "I can never get enough!"

Food is a very common craving, but there are also other, "deeper" things we crave:
-Intimacy -- belonging to a group, having close friends, getting married, and having someone that you can trust with your secrets.
-Meaning -- knowing that you matter and that you are making a difference in the world
-Destiny -- wondering what will come of your life and where you are headed

It's normal to crave these things because God built them into our very being. We crave these things because we are incomplete. We need answers.

God's the One with the answers. He's the only One that can satisfy these cravings. He is the One that completes us. It's only when we learn to live life for God and as He intended it to be lived that we can discover true fulfillment.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will blog about these "Soul Cravings", based on the book of the same name by Erwin McManus.

The Silence Ends!

Alright, I realize that I was less than diligent in keeping this blog up to date, so today, the madness ends! (or begins, depending on your angle.) Let's start this one off with a poll:

Paintball & Riding Camp Video

This was our first year running this camp, and it was a smashing success. After long, long last, I've finally finished this video. Sorry for the wait!

link disclaimer: RLBC is not associated/affiliated with any content on YouTube other than its own.

By Popular Demand...

Well, here's one of the unforgettable moments of the Teen Camp talent show. Enjoy!

link disclaimer: RLBC is not associated/affiliated with any content on YouTube other than its own.

Video of the Day

Dan King asked me to post this video on YouTube, so I figured I'd post it here too. Let me know in the comments if there's any other camp videos you want to see, and I'll post the most popular ones here too!

link disclaimer: RLBC is not associated/affiliated with any content on YouTube other than its own.

A Smash Success!

Well, today marked the end of our inaugural Paintball and Riding Camp. IT... WAS... AWESOME!!! I am right tired, but I can't wait to do it again next year. I'm taking the rest of this week off, and then I'll post some pictures and videos. Don't worry, I won't put any up of my welts!

QOTD!

So many good memories of camp this summer; what's YOUR favourite camp moment of this summer?

We're Baaack!

Wow, what an awesome summer! I can't believe it is over already, and that a bunch of you have to go back to school already. Here are some fun facts:

-we had 847 campers, and last year we had 745!
-500 DVDs were sold
-Sam Germain memorized Johnny B. Goode and "sang" it during our Staff Rockies
-This weekend is our first-ever Horseback Riding/Paintball camp; it will be awesome!

Thanks SO much for helping make this summer successful. We're looking forward to planning for Ranger '08, and we look forward to seeing all of you around.

Staff Introduction 2007

Because it was not yet filmed, our Junior 1 DVD does not have the Staff Intro video as a special feature. Well, here it is, in all its glory!

(Ranger Lake does NOT affiliate itself with any videos or themes found on YouTube)

Be Right Back!

Well, it appears that our lack of time (and a high speed internet connection) will prevent us from updating this blog until the fall. So until then, we'll see you at camp, and we'll be back soon!

Our new philly - Taco Junior!

That's right, by an unprecedented landslide, T.J. was voted the winning name of our "Name That Horse" competition. This means that Karen Kammer gets $10 credit at our Tuck Shop this summer. Congratulations, Karen!

Name That Horse! Finals

Well, I'm sorry this is a day late, but that's what happens when you go back to dial-up! Here are the winning names from each category, and next Monday, the name that's in the lead will be the winner, and the person who suggested the winning name will get a $10 credit at the tuck shop. Vote on!

Horse Name Voting... Preliminaries

Ladies and Gentlemen, Alexa and I have narrowed down the suggestions to 24 names which we will vote on until next Wednesday. Vote once in each of the 5 polls below, and then from Wednesday to Monday we will vote on the top 5. And here they are, in no particular order!

Note: Staff Training

It's hard to believe that June will soon be here. Greg is still confirming dates for various staff members to work this summer. If he hasn't contact you yet that means we are still waiting for you to send us either your police check or one (or two or three) of your references. Contact Greg at greg@rlbc.ca if you want to check the status of your application. Reference and police check forms are available at http://rlbc.ca/Staff.html
Staff Training for all senior staff and jr. cabin leaders will start on Friday, June 29th at 11:00 am. Wranglers, LITs, and Assistant Lifeguards will receive on the job training the week(s) they are at camp.

Name That Filly Contest Details

Wow, I guess I shoulda brought horses to this blog a little sooner... traffic is CRAZY!

Here's the deal: Naming is closed on Sunday at midnight. Then, next week, Paul, Alexa and I will whittle down the name suggestions to something like 20 names. We'll have 4 rounds of voting on random groups of names. The most popular name from each group will make it to the final round of voting, when we will together decide the name of the filly. Whoever came up with that name will be the winner!

Don't worry, we'll use a "secure" polling site to decide the name instead of trying to keep track of everything ourselves. That way, everything stays nice and impartial.

Name... That... FILLY!!!

This year, on Good Friday, our horse Taco gave birth to a filly (female baby horse). While our riding staff are still scratching their heads, the rest of us are trying to figure out what to name this horse. So we're opening it up to you, the people! Let's hear those horse names!!!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that if you suggest the winning name, you'll get $10 in your tuck account!!!

Edit 2: Thanks Shelbie, that spelling mistake gave my greenhorn status away!

One more QOTD!

FINE, I'll ask an easier question:

Who is your all-time favourite camp speaker?

Question of the Day: "a little more difficult" edition!

Why is it impossible to be a Christian and not be dependent on God?

You Gotta Have Faith

I was reading through Luke yesterday when I read about a woman who touched Jesus and was healed:

...though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. And Jesus said, "Who was it that touched me?" When all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!" But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me." And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace." -Luke 8:43-48 ESV (bold mine)

How many people were in the crowd that brushed against Jesus? How many were sick? All of them needed to have their sins forgiven, why weren't THEY healed from their sins? If Jesus was a magic healing guy, anyone would be healed just by touching him. But it doesn't work that way. The only way to be healed by Jesus is by having faith in him.

Sometimes we can pray the prayer that says, "God, if it's your will, please heal this person." No doubt this can sometimes be an appropriate prayer, but I betcha more often than not, this prayer is prayed because we lack faith. Ask God to increase your faith. Learn to trust and depend on Jesus more. We can unleash the healing power of God by having faith that He is all-powerful.

Question of the Day

What's your favourite camp skill?

The 500 Club

Yaaay! As of 10:30 this morning, 500 campers are registered for camp! We have more campers registered than we did last year at this time, and our goal is to have 801 campers come out to Ranger this summer. Keep this in your prayers; more campers means more people are exposed to the love of Jesus.

Podcast... for Dummies

Alright, alright. If you don't know what I was talking about in the last post, I'll make it easy for you. For a bare-bones, no pictures version of our first podcast, hit this link. But really, try iTunes. It's great!

First Real Podcast!

I ordered my iPod yesterday, and today I made Ranger's (and my) first, genuine podcast! We interviewed long-time camper and current summer staff member Brandon Wiebe and had a ton of fun. To listen to it, you need to download iTunes. Don't worry, it's free and it works on Windows, not just Mac! It'll be available through the iTunes store after it's approved, but for now, here's how to get to it: Open iTunes, then click "Advanced" in the title bar. Select "Subscribe To Podcast..." from the drop-down menu, then paste this address into the box that appears:

http://rlbc.ca/Podcasts/podcast.xml

Click "enter", and iTunes should subscribe you to our feed and immediately begin downloading our first podcast. Enjoy!

Top 10 Knots!

I came across this handy knot list and thought I'd share it with you. Figure a couple of these out and look really cool on your campout!

Top Ten Knots

Ranger's Lake 2007

Paul and I left our cushy desk jobs and headed to Ranger to hang out with John. We saw some pretty cool things:
-Buffalo Lodge is GONE, and the new look is fantastic!
-we had to walk through the snow to get to the riflery range
-the lake is a LOT higher! Check it out:

Question Of The Day

Since camp, when and/or where did you feel closest to God?

Today's Reading...

Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your Name give glory; because of your love and because of your faithfulness. Why should the heathen say, “Where then is their God?” Our God is in heaven; whatever he wills to do he does. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but they cannot speak; eyes have they, but they cannot see; They have ears, but they cannot hear; noses, but they cannot smell; They have hands, but they cannot feel; feet, but they cannot walk; they make no sound with their throat. Those who make them are like them, and so are all who put their trust in them. O Israel, trust in the LORD; he is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD; he is their help and their shield. You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; he is their help and their shield. The LORD has been mindful of us, and he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron; He will bless those who fear the LORD, both small and great together. Psalm 115:1–13

(don't) Check Your Brain At The Door

When you decided to follow Jesus, did you have to take a stupid-pill? One of my greatest frustrations with the problems some people have with Christianity (or just faith in general) is the misconception that faith and science can't co-exist. The crazy thing is that there are many Christians and non-Christians who believe this. Here's how I view this problem:
To some Christians, science is the attempt to prove that God doesn't exist. If there's a rational explanation for everything, then we can't have faith, and therefore, God cannot exist. To them, God is not a rational being.
To some non-Christians, faith is merely an excuse for lack of knowledge. They see people who have faith and wonder why they don't use their (God-given) brains to figure some things out rather than being ignorant. Example: "I was looking for change for the parking meter, and when I reached into my pocket, there was a quarter there! I just KNOW God heard my prayer." (The quarter was probably there all morning, but this person didn't realize it.) This could be why so many people think faith is childish: it takes faith (and ignorance) to believe in Santa, and to them that's the same faith needed to believe in God.
I believe that science and faith are closely tied together. God created everything and He is the master designer. God wasn't ignorant of science, He created science. Being human, we are limited creatures and couldn't possibly understand all the ways of an infinitely wise and powerful God, and so we need to trust Him (have faith) when we don't understand something. This is why Christians don't have to fear science: if all of creation's secrets were laid bare, it would prove how God created everything, not that He doesn't exist; it would prove mankind's dependence on God, not our independence.
We are fooling ourselves if we believe that we can know everything about science, philosophy, or anything in general while we're here on earth, but we're also fooling ourselves if we don't seek to try and understand glaring issues and questions like: "How can there be a God with so much evil in the world?" or "Man evolved from apes, and scientists just found proof!" We can't afford to be ignorant Christians and not back up our faith with a little research. So if you're a Christian, ask "why" and look for answers to tough questions. Don't settle for pat answers you heard somewhere, discover science together with your friends and family. Have faith and know that all true discoveries, scientific and otherwise, will only clarify how God exists rather than show how he is absent!

Christ Is Risen!

I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me. The life that I am now living, subject to the limitation of human nature, I am living in faith, faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Question of the Day: Video Edition

So... Where do YOU belong?

Unwritten Rules

There are many unwritten rules in life, that its, rules that are a given, ones that everyone should know: Don't date your best friend's ex, take your shoes off at the door, cover your mouth when you cough, etc.
In the so-called "Christian circle", there are also some unwritten rules like: Don't drink alcohol, don't smoke, don't go bars, etc. I call these "unwritten" because the Bible doesn't directly encourage or prohibit any of these actions. So how should we decide on these issues?

You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is helpful. You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is beneficial. Don't think only of your own good. Think of others and what is best for them. -1 Corinthians 10:23-24

God is good to us; instead of giving us a book filled with do's and don'ts, He gives us a book that tells us how to live. There aren't hard, fast rules for every situation. God wants us to use our minds to make decisions.
When you are making a decision on something not morally "right" or "wrong" (like whether or not to go to a friend's party where there could be alcohol), don't just think about what's good for YOU, think of what's good for EVERYONE. Are you being selfish or selfless? Are you sacrificing the good of everyone just so that you can have a good time? Don't forget to ask your friends, parents and other people what you should do! If you do these things, you'll find that you'll hear God speaking to you as to what your decision on "unwritten rules" should be.

Can't wait for summer?

Well, neither can we! Here's a little video to tide you over:
(note: Ranger does not endorse nor associate itself with any videos hosted on YouTube)

I saw the sign!

I drove by a church today that had this written on their lawn sign: “Like our sign? Try our sermon!” Yep, nothing gets my eyes-a-rolling like a good church sign. When I thought about it, I realized that this sign is how this church is getting Jesus’ message out to Saskatoon.

Let me be clear: there is nothing wrong with lawn signs. I just wonder what the best way is to make people aware of Jesus’ message. T-shirts? Church? Camp? In your opinion, what do you think best lets people know who Jesus really is?

Application Station

Alright, it's the moment you've all been waiting for! We've just updated our website to include our new LIT application, Jr. Staff application and police check/reference forms. So let the applications flow! We've also posted our annual camp tour on our website; check it out to see if and when we're coming to your church.

Same guy, different book

So I was reading 1John today and came across something interesting:

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 1John 3:11-15

In this book, John hammers on this point again and again: Loving brothers=loving God, hating brothers=hating God. Here he's illustrating this point until he makes a quick aside (in bold, courtesy of me!). I'll tell a story that I heard today that will hopefully make sense of John's comment.
I was doing a camp presentation at a church this morning, and throughout the service the youth pastor and others talked about their CRAZY Jr. Youth group. Bananas smooshed in doorways, disrespect for leaders, and on and on... all because they had a great event at the beginning of the year and the community kids kept showing up afterwards. But the congregation only expressed pride when someone referred to this seemingly out-of-control group.
After the service, I spoke with the youth pastor. He told me that one of his church kids actually got beat up during one of their meetings. It sounded pretty bad. I felt sorry for this kid. Tonight, when I read 1John, it hit me. But first off, props to this church for accepting community kids and recognizing the blessing they are receiving through accepting these clearly rough kids. Anyhow, according to the behaviour I heard of, it's clear to me that these community kids-according to John's standards-don't love their brothers. And beating someone up? That's a clear act of hate. "Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you." Why? Because Christians don't act like the world. And I bet that's why that kid got beat up. He was part of a different group, he was identified with loving Christians, and for that he received a beating.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

This church is on the fringe; they're a church that is actually doing what Jesus wanted the church the do. When you do good, don't expect the world to reward you. Trust that through this, God will make sure you are lacking in nothing.

Long time, no post!

Sorry it's been a while since our last post... just wanted to let everyone know that we've updated our LIT and Jr. Staff applications. No more 5 pager for you! We're going to post the new ones on our website in the next couple weeks, so keep your eye on rlbc.ca. We'd love to have you on our staff team this summer!

Follow!

Can we take a break from John? Okay then!
I love being a Dad; never thought I would but it's great! Today I was washing dishes and Leif and Annika were begging me to play with them. "Just hold on, I'm working!" was my reply to their pleas. Immediately I was reminded of how I always wanted my Dad to play with me, but he had work to do. For a while there, I guess I kinda held that against him, thinking he was too busy to spend time with me.
Man, I was too critical of my dad; parenthood is not easy. Now that I'm a dad, I look back and realize that my dad is pretty incredible. My older brother rebelled a ton, to say the least. He'll even admit that his high school years were mostly about doing everything my parents taught him not to do. One night he was REALLY mean to my parents and he left them devastated. Just thinking about it right now makes me tense! I'll never forget my dad's reaction: I walked by the living room, and there he was at the piano, playing "Be Still and Know That I am God" and crying his eyes out. What a man. My respect for Dad grew a ton that day; he taught me right then to bless God when things are good, and to bless God when things are rough.

Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. -Philippians 3:17

Now that I'm a dad, I find myself asking myself what my Dad would do. It's important to think WWJD, but it's also important to think "What Would (insert godly person who you know here) Do?" Take note of them, don't forget them, and live your life like theirs.
And allow me to tag one more thought on the end here: don't be so hard on your parents like I was. Rest assured they're probably trying their hardest to do what's best for you, and even though they annoy you, they're some of the only people on earth who love you no matter what.

John 8 - Part 2

You probably don't know this, but my son's second name is Abram. Yeah, he's named after my grandpa, and we all think that's pretty great. In the Bible, Abram had faith in God and his name was changed to Abraham, which means "Father of Many" because it was with him that the Israeli nation was started. So Abraham was a pretty important guy to the Jews, because he was their "father".
So when Jesus says that they aren't, they take offense:

"Abraham is our father," they answered.
"If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father does."
"We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only Father we have is God himself."

It's important say that we put God first, but it's even more important to follow who we say we follow. If God is our Father, our lives must look like his. Also, if we claim allegiance to Ranger, our lives must reflect the good choices that the Ranger leadership makes.

A Poem by Cindy Taekema

Twas the eve before take off,
and all through the house,
no one was sleeping,
not even a mouse.

So much commotion
as final preparations were made
running around aimlessly,
like in a circus parade!

Visas are still pending,
not yet coming through
should flights be changed?
what ever should we do?

Maybe we could sneak
in the belly of the plane
then it would be free,
...yet a little too insane

After hours of stress,
nothing else can we do
yet alas, a glimmer of hope,
could it be true?

a window of opportunity,
the visa has come, horray!
Now we can leave legally
on the plane the next day

I had made my list
now am checking it twice
realizing I should have
taken mothers advice

"take only the essentials,
and not too much more"
for now all my luggage,
won't fit out the door!

Stressing now about luggage weight,
and what not to bring;
"should I pack my rock collection,
or my precious diamond ring?"

so many decisions
and things left to find
feeling so unprepared,
I was loosing my mind!

then there was a noise
could it be? is it true?
yes, up on the rooftip,
I found my lost shoe!

Now gaining back the confidence,
I pulled myself together
reminding myself
I was leaving to warmer weather!

No more of this snow
and famous Canadian winters
no more sneezing and shivering
and freezing my knickers!

now squeezing my last item
in the top of my bag
I quickly zip it closed
before it will snag.

Things are simmering down now
at the Taekema household,
feeling a more prepared
and a little more bold

"Am I ready to go?"
I ask to myslef
ready to leave all the teddies
and books on my shelf?

Well I guess it's too late
to start changing my mind
so I guess here I go again,
leaving you all behind.

But now all is calm
no more a big fright
and I say "best wishes to all,
and to all a good night!!"

What?

Sorry, we didn't notice that the blog was all messed up until halfway through Christmas! So here's hoping that craziness doesn't happen again. And if you have no clue what I'm talking about, just smile, nod, and have a happy New Year!