Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Johnston!

Two old friends from university got married today at a chapel near Stanley Park. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Johnston! We are so happy for you two.

Two and a half...

Another 6 month mark... oh just too cute. We were just coming home from a walk, and the sun had this interesting glowing quality about it on the porch. So I grabbed the camera, and this is the result.

I also took the opportunity to take a shot of the little guy hanging out with mommy. :-)

A weekend with intercessors - the praying princesses

Four very special ladies - Trisha, June, Rubye and Barbara (right to left) - came to visit us from Garland, Texas this past weekend. They are an amazing bunch. Having been called to visit what was then a new church plant several years back, and having seen Vancouver, they were moved to pray inceasantly for our city and for our church. They do this literally: the four women gather together on Thursday evenings in Texas every other week and intercede for specific needs within our community and within our church. They also come visit Vancouver every year to regain a fresh vision of how best to pray for our city, and to put faces to people's names.

Imagine the surprise when these ladies, whom I hardly knew, greeted me and my family at our door by name, and asked specifically about how their prayers for my family had been answered. That is intercession indeed!

It was an incredible joy to spend a good part of my weekend with them. Here's why:

• Intercessors, by their gift, are people who long after God's heart. They long to hear God's Spirit and they yearn to do His will. People who are filled with the Holy Spirit are attractive: they are genuine and they are a joy to be around. In fact, their joy is contagious!
  
• Intercessors have an inherent assurance that the Lord is God, and that He is faithful to answering prayers. (They wouldn't be intercessors otherwise!) For the rest of us, who sometimes may wonder whether our prayers are even heard or felt, their steadfast faith reassures us that God is indeed who He says He is. Intercessors motivate me to pray even more inceasantly.
  
• I was motivated tremendously by the level of committment these ladies had for our city and for its people. Having been on missions myself, I too have been moved to pray for others not within my community. But never have I seen such dedication. (Did I mention that the oldest of the group is in her 80s?)

Karen, Erich and I had a fun time getting to know them this past weekend - not only at dinner gatherings, but in their very element too. We particularly enjoyed prayer walking with them around Kitsilano, and it was a privilege and tremendously encouraging to be able to pray together with them for people I knew in the community (my coworkers) and for my community at large.

conGRADulations to Sarah Conner!

Congratulations to Sarah Conner who received her dogwood diploma (high school diploma) this past Friday from Richmond Christian School. It was great to see her reach this milestone. We are all very proud of what you've accomplished and especially for achieving a special award. Way to go Sarah!

Perched atop the balcony of the church where the ceremony was held was yours truly complete with tripod and camera gear. I looked like a bit of a freak geek (translation: quite obviously over geared for the occasion) but hey, I got some shots that not many others did! :-)

Happy Birthday to Karen!

Happy Birthday (May 30) to my beautiful, caring and joyful wife! We enjoyed having friends over for dinner. Always a joy to catch up.

"I had a pony!" (ride)

I couldn't help but think of that hilarious episode of Seinfeld when Erich had his first pony ride this past weekend. May 30th was Healthy Kids Day at the Langara (formerly South Slope) YMCA, where they had lots of fun games, free food and best of all free pony rides for all attendees. OK, so Erich didn't have a pony, but he sure got to ride one!

Erich also got to visit the fire engine and enjoy free tricycle rides around the parking lot. Very cool, very fun, and very jam-packed - so much so that the local radio stations were broadcasting traffic alerts in the area!

Like a kid in a toy store...

Wait, it is a kid in a toy store. While visiting Panorama Park at Deep Cove, we visited an ecclectic store which had a toy section. Erich was elated (and fast!). Well truth be told, they did have these really neat model cars and trucks where the doors would open and you could look inside for a scale model of the real thing. :-)