I'm back...

...from my long, unannounced hiatus from blogging. I just can't get into it these days. Here's the latest.
Job - nothing new. I probably won't be looking for work in a church right now. Just a normal job that pays the bills and is less mentally strenuous. I have been given a few leads from friends around here that I'll be looking into soon.

Mexico - It was great. Except that my cell phone and a ring I had just bought were stolen from a bag in the baggage holding room the day we left. It was prpbably staff that took it. The rest of the week was great, and I love the ocean. Very relaxing, and we came back dark, although you'd never know now.

Winnipeg - I went back to my old stomping grounds to see my buds Nolan (and Kath) and Steve, and also Ed, ede and Nathan. When we lived there, Nathan was just a kid; now he's 20, going into his 2nd year of Fine Arts, and has a girlfriend that somehow kept coming up in conversation. It was great to see them all. I stayed at Nolan's place and just hung out for a few days. I had planned to camp for a couple of days on the way back, but the fact that the campgrounds were closed and it was snowing the day I left changed my mind.

Since then, I've just been hanging out at home. Sherryl is still working a lot, so I play "Mr. Mom". I've also been working on the yard a lot, and it's starting to take decent shape.

I've been listening to a lot of U2 the last couple of months, and recently read "U2 at the End of the World" (Bill Flanagan). I am also listening to Bruce Springsteen's new album, "Devils and Dust". It is very good, and the title song is a haunting tear-jerker. My friend Steve said that Bruce has become a believer in Christ during the last few years, and you can totally hear that on the CD.

I've been thinking about church lately. I have had very little contact with Lakeview Church since I stopped working there, There hasn't been any official contact from them, and I try to keep in touch with my friends fromthere, thugh I am not really good at that. I feel alone when it comes to a group of people/family that I used to have around me. There is something about having friends watch your back. That's not to say that I don't have great friends cuz I do. I guess I've always expected the institutional church to somehow get the idea of rallying around people, putting down the pens and the financial papers, pushing themselves away from the computers and putting much more effort into helping people. I know that we always say that people are why we do what we do in churches, but I think our own agendas often block us from doing that. We are starting to catch on, but for many people, it is too little, too late.