Sorry for the lack of posts lately. The last few weeks have been hectic, yet not much to blog about at this point. Here are some snapshots of what's been up around my world:

• Lucas has been having a hard time listening at school. His grade one teacher says that he talks out, acts silly, and is easily distracted by others. I feel his pain, but we have been trying everything to get him to adjust his attitude and listening. We created a form that his teacher fills out everyday, so that we can praise him when he does well [has a good day] and give him consequences when he doesn't. We have really been trying to keep up on him daily. I have to say, I hate punishing my kids. It makes me really sad. For instance, on Wednesday Lucas spent the majority of the evening in his room [he had a very bad day at school]... it may well have been harder on his mom and I than on him. Parenting is hard work, and we know we have to just stick at it. But I really dislike punishing my kids.
• Plans for the development of some new initiatives at The Freeway that I talked about continue. We are tossing around ideas, formulating plans, writing proposals, praying hard [not necessarily in that order].
  
• I have spent 75 hours in appointments/community/meetings with people in the last two weeks alone. Lots of people time. It's been great, but tiring sometimes too.
• I have written my denomination asking for a short sabbatical this year. I haven't heard back yet. We'll see.
• I have been calling, e-mailing, searching for a nice place within a couple hours drive from Hamilton to host The Freeway spiritual retreat this March. No luck so far. Know any good places?
• Last week was the due date for one of the babies we lost last year. Very sad. My wifey is ready to try again, and still wants more kids. I just don't know.
• Our generosity series at The Freeway has probably caused more discussion/buzz/direct action than any other teaching/exploring series so far. Our community seems very open and interested in learning about and becoming more generous [and therefore more missional]. This is one of the things I have always loved about The Freeway - it is a community that wants to change and grow and learn. It's quite nice to be involved in a community like this... I highly recommend it.
  

Labels: blogging, personal, the freeway