Gardening with God

Even better than gardening with me, is gardening with God. He's not only the Master caretaker, but he's also the creator of everything. I learned something about gardening while browsing through his Instruction manual yesterday.

Isaiah 26:3 is a verse that I've known and quoted for years, but I learned a couple of new things that Isaiah was saying when he wrote: "The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in you"

First is the phrase "in perfect peace". In the Hebrew language that Isaiah used, it reads: "in peace, selah, peace." Selah is a Hebrew punctuation that means "stop here for a moment and think about what I just said." So the verse reads like this, "you will keep him in peace (stop here for a moment and think about what I just said), peace." I like that!

The other thing that I learned was about the word "keep". It's a gardener's word that means "to cultivate, care for, nurture, prune and feed like a vinedresser would do for his precious grape vines." Do you see the process here? It's not that God promises to instantly solve all of our problems; rather he will use them, as we focus on his loving plans for us, to add to the quality and fruitfulness of our lives. Sometimes that involves pruning, and sometimes it is his gentle nurture and nourishment. But the ultimate result will be our fruitfulness, and that's what life is all about!

Coming of Age

You know what it is like for a young child; "It's all about me!" Then it's kind of fun to watch that child grow through his teen years and emerge into adulthood. Gradually over the years, he learns that there are other people besides himself in this world. It's very rewarding to watch our maturing kids learn how to live unselfishly.

That's what I thought this morning as I sat in church and watched Pastor Terry lead the service. After a wow! worship service, which in itself was evidence of a church who is emerging into maturity, Terry came up to introduce the theme of Missions. His goal was to overview some of the Missions projects that our church has undertaken this year.

First he introduced Sulma Hoeg, who along with her husband Karsten, has been serving in Nicuragua for the past several years. Every winter she and a team go down and prepare to clothe and equip 450 children to go to school. They are now planning a mission training centre where we can send teams to teach a variety of skills to the young graduates. After Sulma, Terry and Andrew Lauwers talked about their recent trip to Davao City Philippines to teach over 1000 young people. Then Pastor Sam told us about the last trip that several of of the guys and gals took to Costa Rica (as well as the next one coming up in the Fall) Pastor Rebecca reported on her and Doug's Church Planting seminar to pastors in Berlin. (She got home late last night)I was deeply touched, after that, when Terry introduced BJ Chursinoff and Lana Davidson who've chosen to take a year and give themselves to serve in Costa Rica. Then Pastor Gord, who just arrived home from St Vincent, gave us a quick overview of his trip with the PLBC team where they built a large church, plus taught at a bunch of venues. Gord encouraged the church by telling us that we have such a good reputation around the world that any door we want to enter in the 160+ countries where Foursquare operates, we are more than welcome.

We're coming of age. Our determination is to give away 50% of what comes into our church this year. Is it ok if I say I was a very proud Church daddy today? I am proud of the way each of our adherents and members have risen to a very unselfish vision. I'm mostly proud of our God who has promised us that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Article in Tricity News

Why do we go to church?

This week I had breakfast with a pastor friend, and we had a very interesting discussion. It grew out a point of discouragement that he was experiencing because many of his church were disappearing on vacation. They were spending weeks away from church. He'd come from a poorer area where people could not afford to go away; now he is in a more affluent community and long weekends are the big escape.

I suggested that he gets used to it, doesn't try to fight it and that he learns to adapt to the culture where God has placed him.

"I understand that the suburban culture is different, but people should still be in church on Sunday!" It was the apparent apathy that was bothering him. "They just want to have God as an add on. 'I'll call you when I need you, but right now my family and I are going to get away for a while. See you when I get back.' " He was really bugged.

I laughed with him at the dilemma. It is true that the Victoria Day week-end (Memorial Day in the States) does begin the summer slide. Attendance, participation and offerings slide downward when the sun shines, until sometime after Labour Day. Usually about the third week in September, families begin to give thought to church again. It can be frustrating to plan events when several of our leaders have checked out for the summer.

I explained to my friend that I used to feel the same way, but have learned to work with the reality of life in the 21st century, rather than wistfully fighting for a return to the 50's. (When I was a boy we used to get badges for faithful attendance. If we never missed a Sunday that year we could add another bar to our badge. By the time I was 12, mine was getting pretty long. We simply never missed church or Sunday School, and if we were away, we had to get the Church we attended while on vacation, to sign a paper saying that we were there.

I'll come back to how I explained to my friend the changes that I made in my thinking.

Dying Well

When Susan and I were young pastors, 30 years ago, we tended to attract 20 and 30 year old people to our church. As I have aged, (Susan hasn't) I've noticed that we have many more 50 plus members at Northside. Thankfully our church is still weighted toward youth and young adults because of some excellant younger leaders, but I am delighted with the growth in wisdom of the white (or would be white) haired generation.

The other side of aging is that we experience death more regularly. For the first 10 years, I never officiated at a funeral of anyone from our church family. Now there is hardly a week that goes by that I don't talk to one or two people, who either have lost a parent to death, or is gravely ill themselves. This morning I met with one lady whose mom just died, and talked with another whose dad is near death's ominous door, and it's only 10 o'clock. More and more, I've felt the urgency of our thinking about death. My friend, the man who is in pallitive care right now, came and talked with me months ago about his impending death. We talked about his spiritual state, he wrote out his life story, and we even planned his wishes at his funeral service. It may seem morose to some, but I and he considered it to be wisdom. Now he's fully ready to die and greet his dear wife once again in heaven.

I'm heartily recommending to our church that everyone, young and old, read my book, Dying Well, and prepare themselves for the inevitable. Then after their loved one dies, they should read my book, Good Mourning. Both books were written from my many experiences of counselling grieving and dying people.

Well that's enough news to brighten up your day. I'll get back to work now!

sports on the Northside

I could hardly believe what I was hearing this week when our church sports co-ordinator, Ryan Douglas, gave his report on the state of sports to our Church Council. My Associate, Terry Janzen, and I are always kidding each other about our view of sports. I, who has never played a serious game of anything in my life, tend to think of sports in North America as a profound waste of time and money. Besides the fact that the love of sports (like the love of money) has become a dangerous form of idolatry, I've seen far too many families choose soccer on Sunday morning over church. Years later, when they've lost their kids from the church, they realize the mistake in priorities they've made. Add to that, the middle-age anguish which seems to attend the bone fractures of youthful competition, the addiction to television games, the countless hours that golf takes husbands away from wives, and the ridiculous salaries that professionals make (compared to teachers for example), I actually find myself getting angry at the sports obsession.

Nevertheless, I was delighted with Ryan's report. There are about 300 guys and gals involved in at least 10 different types of sports in our church. We have several softball teams; soccer is huge (even Susan and I were there cheering on our #1 team as they took us into the BC Lower Mainland championships these last few years), ping pong, pickleball and volleyball attract dozens of participants, scuba diving is led by our Pastor Gord. We don't talk a lot about our boxing club, but we have seen dozens of young men, who might not even be noticed, move into some very tight friendships.

The annual golf tournaments, and superhero competitions are big attractions for not only the players but also scores of fans. I have no idea why anyone would wake up in the middle of the night to play hockey, but dozens of guys see it as fun.

Some of the reasons we have so many sports are that we have a lot of fun (I think church should be a fun place to hang out), it's a great place to invite unchurched friends and introduce them to Christian friends, many of our sports are used as fund raisers to give to missions or help the poor, sports are a healthy place to get exercise, learn teamwork and submission to leadership. As long as our love of sports has higher values, I'm all for it. Again it's like money; it can be a wonderful gift from God, as long as our priorities stay right.

Watch For Me On TV

I will be on It's a New Day this coming week for 2 interviews on The Red Thread Series.

For anyone that lives in the Lower Mainland, I'll be on:

* Monday, May 22 and Tuesday May 23 on OMNI Channel 10
at 7 a.m., 2 p.m., and 11 p.m.

* Tuesday, May 23 and Wednesday May 24 on Vision TV at 8 a.m.

For everyone else, I'll be on the same dates May 22/23 check for your local station below and May 23/24 on Vision TV.

I hope you get to see the interviews and send me a comment to let me know what you thought.

Gardening with Barry

I've had a great day today working in the garden. After a long winter season, I'm finally getting ready for spring. Today I mowed and edged the lawn, cleaned up all the gardens and planted our spring annuals. We already have azaleas, rhodos and several perennials in colorful bloom. My weeping willows, as well as my pussy willows, which I planted for the grandkids, are doing great. And both the cherry tree that the Kids Church bought for me, and our apple tree, are full of young fruit. Its all very inspiring!

While I was in the garage today looking for some tools, I made a wonderful discovery. I'm not sure where they came from, but I found a few packages of gladiola bulbs. what was notable to me was the fact that although the bulbs are fully alive and bursting with potential, they are simply sitting in their respective packages unopened. They could have been there for years for all I know! I'll try planting them and see what comes up--who knows, maybe it's not too late.

They reminded me of a couple whom I spoke with this week. As full of promise as they are (they've been believers for several years) they have never done anything more than warm a couple of seats on Sunday morning. They're feeling, now that they've come to our church and having heard me harping on fruitfulness and purpose several times, that it may be time for them to be planted. Maybe we'll see some color come from both , my friends and my gladiolas. I'd like that.

Too old to learn?

When I was 16, and in grade 11, I decided that I would take typing to fill in a blank space on my school schedule. At that time boys were just beginning to take girl's courses such as cooking, sewing and secretarial stuff. We were propheticly told that one day in the distant future boys would have to use typing skills. Of course I didn't believe it, but I thought typing would be a lark (and there would be a lot of girls in my class)

The truth was that this typing stuff was difficult for me. I couldn't get past the point of looking at the keyboard that I was using. I remember well typing the useless phrases "ug jug ug jug" a thousand or so times on my manual typewriter, and my teacher coming around to cover my eyes with a white piece of paper. By Christmas he took my typewriter away and gave me one with nothing written on the keys. That was when I decided I could never be a secretary! I quit typing and took a study hour instead. Good move as far as I was concerned.

After graduation I went to Bible school. Of course most people did not have the luxury of owning a typewriter so all papers were written by hand. That was fine by me. When I started at Canfor, we didn't have computers--there was one in the downtown main office that filled a 20 by 16 foot room and had 2 full time air conditioners to keep it cool. So secretaries did all word processing. No man would actually type!

In 1979 I started our church, Northside Chapel at the time. I purchased a selectric type writer, the newest invention, and learned to type our bulletins myself. Susan would help when she could spare the time but I actually enjoyed the process on my new typewriter in my new office. I thought "I guess this is what pastors do." Thankfully, within a couple of years we were able to hire a part time secretary along with a couple of volunteers. After that day in about 1981, I never had to type again. I slipped back into my comfortable rut of writing by hand. Whether writing a letter or a book I learned to think through a pen and paper

Then a few years ago I got my first cell phone. In retrospect that began my regressive slide down to the place where I am now, typing my own blog. It began subtly enough. First it was learning to use the text option on my phone. Then I moved to a blackberry and began for the first time sending emails. Meanwhile my friend Bev Huston said to me "You should have a blog." "What in the world is a blog?" I responded. She then assured me that she would do all the work for me, I could just write my thoughts by hand and she would type and post it. Needless to say, here I am back in time, to 1963 learning to type. Bev and her family have moved to Tumbler Ridge (wherever that is!) and my friend Sarah is standing on the sidelines cheering "Come on Barry I know you can do it!" This is my first solo blog. I'm thinking about quitting and taking a study block!

Life Pathways Radio Program

I was so happy to work along side Jessica Cornell today in preparing another 5 radio programs. We're almost to the point where we know what were doing. When we get there I'll start advertising the Life Pathways radio program. It can be listened to from my webpage www.barrybuzza.com. We'd love to hear your comments and questions so that we can gear our conversation and answers toward where our listeners are living.

The series we are on now will take us through the summer. We're walking out the 12 steps as a congregation. Everyone of us will benefit from the inner healing God wants to do in us.

Barry

Good Things Are Happening

Friday was an inspiring day for me. I started out with an early meeting PLBC where we updated our progress in the Building Leaders Campaign. It was so encouraging to see how the various churches had bought into the potential we have of raising up a new generation of leaders. There are still several more to hear from so we don't have a final figure on the gifts and pledges yet. I'll keep you updated.

After returning to my office I had a series of appointments covering various issues, but among them were 4 women in a row with exciting visions that they thankfully shared with me. First came Nicola who has a huge desire and plan to establish homes for young expectatant moms with no place to go. She's already raised over a half million dollars to begin. Secondly Lana came. She's taking a years leave of absence from her medical career to work as a missionary in Costa Rica. I was thrilled to listen to the generosity of this woman I've known since she was our 2 year old neighbor. Then came Sulma. She's from Honduras, married a Canadian and has settled into suburban life here. Karsten and Sulma are planning on moving to Nicuragua to buy land and build a mission learning centre. People from our church will spend their vacations there training natives in whatever trade they know. Lastly, I spoke with Elizabeth who has begun a Stepping Stones ministry to help young single moms, who've never had the opportunity to learn basic parenting and living skills. To me this is what my job is all about - inspiring challenging and equipping people to step out into the great adventures God has already planned and prepared for them.

Barry

Never Give Up

I have in my garden, an acorn tree. Kristy asked me a couple of days ago why I have such an unlikely plant in our front yard. I told her that the acorn tree is a reminder to me of how much God loves persistance. Two years ago Susan and I were visiting her mom who at that time lived on the eleventh floor of a seniors high rise. On her balcony I was planting a spring time array of geraniums and petunias and a few other colorful flowers. The pots which had been left over from last year were crusty and so I removed the old dead plants and began to break up the soil. One pot though had a four inch high green sprout. Thinking it was a weed I pulled it out. That was when I discovered the acorn at its root.
"Mom" I called to her "Where did this come from?". She told me that a squirrel had climbed up the eleven stories of stucco wall to hide it from the other critters for his winter reserve! I was impressed Mom said I could have the little sapling so I brought it home and planted it in the front yard! To me that little squirrel was a picture of persistance. If God makes such a big deal of that virtue I figured I should too. Remember the women who wouldn't take a no from the unrighteous judge or the Canaanite lady who insisted that even the puppies get the crumbs off the masters table. Remember how God changed Jacobs name to Israel after he wrestled all night with Jesus? "Your name shall be Israel because you have. Striven with God and men and have prevailed!" Genesis 33:24-31

Memories of Mom

I'm surprised that Mothers Day is so emotional for me. My mom was about the sweetest most unselfish mother anyone could wish for. She was a behind the scenes mom who literally lived for my dad and us six siblings. She had us kids in less than nine years. Barely got out of the house, except on Saturday for grocery shopping (she always had at least one or two of us in tow) and on Sunday. Even there mom was always on duty teaching the preschoolers. When mom got lung cancer(she never smoked) we kids were in our selfish teen years. My older sister Marilynn was married and ready to deliver her first child in May of 1966. Mom got sick in October of 65. We just asumed she'd be fine. Moms always get better. We didn't know that Christmas would be her last. She seemed well, did all the shopping, made it as usual all about us kids. We had no idea that when mom went back into the hospital in mid January that she'd never come home again. I don't know if we were all in shock, were we overly insensitive or what, but mom's packed out funeral went well. There dad and us teens were comforting all our guests. Who knew mom had so many friends! I turned 19 shortly after her death and started dating Susan a year later so I was distracted from my mourning. Suprisingly I really didn't begin to work through my grief until I was in my forties. Our girls were grown and I could relate to my parents, loss. I began to understand what my dad must have gone through losing mom. How selfish I had been as a teen. How I wish Susan could have known my mom and mom could know her and our girls. Then when each grandchild was born, I spent some more time crying over the loss of Kelly's and Kristy's grandmother. They would have loved her so much. Who knows why God allows good people to die and others to live? I've written two books on death and grief but still have a lifetime of learning ahead. So here I sit sadly working through a death that occured 40 years ago. Happy mothers Day Mom. Thank you for your love and sacrifice. I think if you knew our kids you would say it was worth it all. I never said it enough but I love you very much!

Barry

My Hairdresser Faith

I was getting my hair cut (yes I do have to pay for my few hairs to be trimmed) by Faith, my Persian barber. She is such an evangelist to Muslims from Iran. Although very sweet and quiet she has led many of her family and friends to faith in Jesus. She invites them to Alpha at her church and if they say no, which they usually do, she does three things. She prays for them regularly, she loves them unconditionally (knowing that they are watching to see if she walks the talk) then she waits for God to do the rest. When things get rough for the person she's praying for they come to her and voila! Faith prays with them to become believers. I always love to listen to her latest story of her exploits. God bless our hairdressers who double as counsellors and evangelists.

Barry

Inspired By God's Word

Have you ever had the experience of reading your Bible when you come across something that is so inspiring you can't get past it. I'm in the process, as is my habit, of preparing for Bible study tonight. As we are going through the entire Bible (this is my tenth time teaching through the Bible) tonight I come to Ezekial. Because I've just written "Dancing with the King", I'm very aware of Kingdom stories. In Ezekiel 16 there is a graphic scene of an unwanted baby left out in the garbage. It just so happens that a very loving and powerful man comes along and finds the infant. The story developes as he adopts the child. Cleans her up and raises her to have hope and promise. Ultimately the child grows up meets a prince and becomes a queen sitting in partnership with her beloved husband. Wow! Our kids camp in August is going to wrap around this very theme of our becoming royalty. I can feel a children's book being birthed in me right this minute. But I've got to set it aside to percolate while I finish studying Ezekiel for this evening

Barry

Gardening With Barry

Monday is my day off. Usually Susan and I spend the day together—in the morning we’ll work around our home or in the garden (we often have one or more grandchildren with us), then in the afternoon, we go for a ride somewhere fun.

Today, I spent the whole day in the garden. We just returned from vacation and before that we’d had a lot of rain, so I really haven’t had a chance to get ready for our new spring flowers. While I was mowing the lawn, I got an idea. My ideas usually have a time and energy element to them. I decided that every Monday, I’d write on this blog a short lesson that I learned from the garden. After a couple of years of doing this I’ll have the beginnings of a great devotional book.

Among the dozens of thoughts which occurred to me today, was one concerning parenting. In our front yard, we have a circular garden which sits as a focal point. In the midst of the colour of flowers we have always had a tree planted. In the beginning it was a crabapple tree which flowered beautifully for a short season in the spring. After that tree grew unshapely, I removed it and replaced it with a decorative maple. We live on Vinemaple Place, so I thought the maple would be appropriate. Over the last couple of years, as I’ve pruned the tree, I’ve realized that I’d damaged the decorative part of the hybrid, so it reverted back to a large maple like you’d find in the forest. It wasn’t the look I wanted, so I cut it down and removed it today.

I’ve often used the willow tree as an illustration of fruitfulness, persistence and grace, so I decided to plant one that I had nurtured from the time it was simply a cut-off twig. It’s still young and spindly, but it has great potential. I hammered a one inch stave in beside it and secured the sapling to the stick.

Looking at my baby willow, so full of life and potential, and yet so fragile that it had to be supported. I thought about parenting. We parents are not the root or the trunk of the tree. We are the steady, straight stave that gives strength and support to a young tree. The stick gives the sapling the stability it needs until, but only until, its own trunk is strong enough to support it. If the stave and string hang on too long, they actually wound the young tree as it grows. The string or wire used to bind it to the upright stick gets entwined into the tree. The application is obvious when we see adult children who are too tightly wrapped up in their parents care.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Barry

Note: In case you were wondering, the home above is Waddeston Manor in Aylesbury, England.

Just Released! My new book Dying Well

I was excited to get home for more reasons than one. My new book, Dying Well has arrived and was waiting for me. Dying Well has been written in partnership with my dear friend Blossom Broussard, who died of cancer in the middle of our project, and my son-in-law Jeremy Low. He's a financial counsellor. This book is a sequel to Good Mourning which was written to help those who are going through any type of grief over loss. Dying Well addresses two vital questins: how can we prepare well for the inevitable? And What do we do immediately after someone we love dies? This is a wonderful book to give to a friend or loved one whom we are not sure is ready to die. It applies to everyone both old and young.

You can pick one up at the church by calling 604-484-8907. They will also be ready for sale on the webpage shortly.

Barry

Good To Be Back

It was so good to be back home today. It's like being away from family when we're away from church. I love the way everything keeps going and even improving when I'm gone. Our bulletins have been redesigned and look fabulous. Our new coffee bar at Poco is in. We'll be serving cafe lattes before long. Everyone seemed spiritually nourished and happy. I'm going to have to go away more often.

I've heard people say that they don't have to go to church to be a Christian and I suppose it's true. To me it's like, lighting a fire and watching it burn healthily then removing one log and setting it apart. Watch that single log burn out quickly. That's what it's like to be disconnected from our church family.

Today was a good day tomorrow will be too.

Barry

HIS Story Of Canada

Well were en route home now. After a brief stop in San Francisco we'll be home this evening. Over this last couple of days I've been reading the History of Canada and thoroughly enjoying what I should have learned in high school. Did you know that...?

* In the first census there were 20 atheists in Canada,
* Samuel de Champlains greater purpose was to Christianize Canada,
* The Methodist circuit riding preachers were looked forward to because of the difficulty of pioneer life,
* A seventh of all land was set apart for gov't and another seventh was set aside for the Protestant church,
* In 1812 President James Madison declared,"There would be a second war and Canada would be annexed." (half million Americans against half million British subjects--we won of course),
* In 1865 monarchists wanted to call our nation the Kingdom of Canada. Leonard Tilley compromised by quoting Psalm 72 "He shall have dominion from sea to sea..." We were called a dominion after that.

Well back to my reading. We've got an interesting history.

Barry

What is it about superheroes that we all like?

Leap over tall buildings in a single bound, faster than a speeding locomotive. Not only do people love superheroes, they even want to be them. I remember well running around the house (as a boy) with towel over my shoulder thinking I could fly. Now as a pastor I see myself wanting to play the same game. I never want to make a mistake, want to please everybody, always remain cool and unflappable. I was relieved today to read what the Apostle Peter wrote to his leaders "I have a special concern for you church leaders. I know what it's like to be a leader ... here's my concern: that you care for God's flock with all the diligence of a shepherd. Not because you have to, but because you want to please God. Not calculating what you can get out of it, but acting spontaneously. Not bossily telling others what to do, but tenderly showing them the way. When God who is the best shepherd of all, comes out in the open with this rule he'll see that you've done it right and commend you lavishly". Thank God he didn't call any of us to be superheroes. Rather he called us to be very human shepherds of a flock. I get to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground. Even though I, like you, am empowered by heaven. That's very good news

Barry

Honoring God

Today Susan and I are shopping in San Lucas for gifts for our girls. We went into a store that the owner was playing Christian music. As usual Susan started singing with the music. "Are you a Christian?" The lady asked. "Yes we are." A few minutes later as Susan was looking for turquoise earrings the owner was helping. "Do you like these?" She asked pointing to her own. "Yes I do" a second later she had them out of her ears cleaned them and put them in a bag as a gift. "Here take them. You are visiting. More will arrive here in three days and I can replace mine" The lady did more than say she was a Christian. She acted like Christ. Of course we bought some other jewellry after that, but the lady had given purely out of love with no other expectations than to honor her God.

Shaped By What Our Parents Taught Us

Every day wherever we are in the world. Susan calls her mom. She always has.

Today when she called Mom was having coffee with some other seniors in her new assisted living home. That may not seem unusual to you but Susan was amazed. Her mom has never taken a coffee break and has also never spent time in her neighbor's home. Why? Because 80 years ago when mom was 10 her mother had told her that only lazy people take coffee breaks and only gossips visit in their neighbors' homes to talk about other people. What interests me is how much our lives are shaped by what our parents teach us. Whether it was good advice or bad is not the issue. Rather that it has stuck for 80 years. Sometimes we parents wonder if what we are saying and doing makes any difference. I think it makes more of an impact than we realize. Both the good and the not so good.

Barry

Faithfulness

Every day while Susan and I sit by the pool here in the beautiful Baja, salesmen and women walk up and down the hot sandy beach selling their wares. It might be silver, blankets (Who knows why?), t-shirts or colorful beaded jewelry. We talked with a man today, his name is of course Jose, who's been walking up and down the two mile stretch for 20 years. Its very difficult walking on the soft sand in heavy clothes carrying a large case of wares. Jose had a cheery attitude and a huge smile dispite the fact that he had sold nothing and it was about 90 degrees in the shade (there is hardly a person to be found on the beach). But I was struck by his faithfulness. I thought "Wow! If he can be so faithful and have such a great attitude in his challenging job, how about me?" When Jesus comes back. He'll only ask me one thing, "Were you faithful to what I gave you to be?". Today I finished Chapter 13 of my new book. I've found so much to write about that I decided today to make it a trilogy. Hopefully I can write part 2 in the summer. I can hardly wait to get started, but I've got to finish the last 2 chapters of this one first. We're headed up to the dollar store to buy more paper.

Blessings to all my faithful readers,

Barry

It's May Day in Mexico Today

A BIG holiday with lots of color and music. As for Susan and I we've had a pretty relaxing day. I thankfully finished writing my book today. I'm pretty excited about book #2, but I'm trying to hold back. I've got a couple more days so I'm trying to focus my attention on the future. I'm asking God to show me what he has in mind for me and my house over the next few years. Hopefully by the time we get home and into the routine of life and work, I'll know the general direction where the right path points. While I was writing this book, I decided that the Kingdom of God and where we fit in to his plans will make a good sermon series for 2007 I'll have to have the trilogy finished by then. Blessings

Barry