I've been Wordled

Robin "Wordled" my last sermon series. Here's what came out...


Check it out at http://www.wordle.net/

Jesse Tree, and other random thoughts...

I've been having one of those weeks where I can hardly keep track of everything I want to write!
SO here goes...

Do something for Advent! Advent is the season of preparation for celebrating Christmas. So prepare! Do something for your heart this season! Read the Christmas stories (I'll post them later), listen to the words of the hymns and carols you hear on the radio, and maybe do something like we are doing as a family, the Jesse Tree.





Go to http://www.rca.org/Page.aspx?pid=1628 for an excellent resource. Here's a sample...

November 30
Scripture:	Isaiah 11:1-2
Reading:	God has a plan for everything. Long before Jesus was born lived a man named Jesse. Jesse had seven sons; the youngest was named David. When David grew up, he became a great king of Israel. God had a plan for Jesse and for his son David, even before they were born. Jesus was also part of Jesse and David's family tree, born many, many years after David. People waited a long time for the birth of the savior. The season of Advent is a season of waiting for us, too. We wait for Christmas, the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is hard to be patient, especially when we are waiting for something wonderful like Christmas! But it is important to learn to be patient, and to trust that God has a plan for us, too.
Talk about:	Why is waiting so hard?
Prayer:	Dear God, we thank you that you have a plan for each of us. Help us to be patient as we wait for Jesus' birthday.

There you go- great for kids and grown ups too! You're only a few days behind- get on it!

Speaking of kids,
we pulled out the playmobile manger over the weekend. Best gift ever, thanks Sam and Kim Chez!

This year Karis took it upon herself to teach the Christmas story to Justin. It was enough to make a father's heart burst! But the priceless moment was when Eden tried to get in on the story. She declared that she'd play the role of God. Karis' response..

Eden, there's only one God, and you're not Him!

Speaking of Karis- she turned 7 today! She got an extreme make-over, 7 year old bedroom edition. Robin worked so hard- the girl better appreciate it.

Melissa's Story

Melissa gave permission to post her story on my blog...

"I wanted to share a little bit of my story with you today. I started attending Connections a while back not because I truly wanted to but because I wanted to make my in-laws happy and I also wanted my children to learn about God to help instill the values in them that will help them be good people in the world we live in.

I felt out of place at first, like I didn't belong - I had built up a wall around my heart that seemed would not or could not come down. There are probably many reasons for that - we all have our hurts and experiences of the past. But then something started to happen, I started to re-examine my life and realized that as good as my marriage was and as wonderful as our family is...something was missing.

There was a baptism service several weeks ago where George had invited people to come forward and be baptized if they felt the desire to do so. At that moment I wanted to come forward so bad but I was afraid and I was ashamed because I felt I was not worthy somehow. I wept that entire service for reasons I could not understand or explain, I didn't know what was happening to me. That night I didn't sleep, I couldn't turn off the questions and excitement that filled my head as the Lord's spirit was entering my life.

By the morning it was like a wave had crashed over me and all I could do was surrender my life to God and know that my heart, my marriage, my family, my entire live would be forever changed and it was such a wonderful feeling. I had heard of this spiritual awakening happening to other people but I honestly never believed it to be true until it happened to me.

So now I stand here ready to give my life fully to God, to ask for forgiveness and be washed clean and continue to live a new life reborn in faith and to celebrate knowing without a shadow of a doubt that no matter what happens in my life, I will never be alone. I am also truly blessed to experience this with Lukas and Owen as well. We were not in the spiritual place we are today when our boys were born. Through the grace of God their lives will be forever changed as well.

To quote my son Lukas, "The water will wash away all the bad things we have done (like hitting my brother) and we get a new heart that believes in and loves Jesus."


Melissa loves this song that her husband Fred shared with her. So we threw it into the service as well..

Dreaming Big to help the Children

OK, here's the article about Leah Shadd.
(And check out who wrote it!)

“Do you want to know my dream?” asks
Leah Shadd on her Snuggly Creatures site
(snugglycreatures.blogspot.com). “My dream
is to make stuffed animals and to give them to
children in poor countries around the world.”
Leah has a dream in her heart, a passion to
serve, and compassion for special needs children.
So despite her own physical challenges
with scoliosis and deafness, her creativity
knows no bounds. Two years ago she bought
her first sewing machine and since then she has
made over 124 stuffed animals.

Her dream is big: to connect with missionaries,
service workers, travelers and non-profit
organizations to send stuffed animals to all 195
countries in the world. Recently, Leah sent a
large package of her Snuggly Creatures to
Brittany’s Hope Foundation, an organization
that provides cribs for special needs children in
orphanages in Vietnam and Ethiopia. This past
summer she designed a beautiful butterfly toy
for her support child in Mexico. And the dream
continues: in March another 22 Snuggly Creatures
will be sent to a small village in
Nicaragua.

She is a remarkable woman.
Leah does not know if she will fulfill her
dream. What she does know is that there are
many children in the world who have nothing,
and her heart compells her to help. Her dream
is big, but with your prayers and suggestions
for partnerships in this mission she will keep
moving closer to making this dream come true.

by Robin Saylor is a founding
member of Connections
Community Church
(connectionschurch.ca).

CHRISTIAN LIFE IN LONDON
Visit us online at http://www.clilondon.com/
December 2008 -January 2009 Presented by the Christian Churches Network of London

Monday's Musings

If I'm out of the house, out with friends on a Saturday night, I'm free to have fun. But if I'm in the house, all I can think about is the Sunday service. The only problem was, we had 3 extra girls spending the night.
Fine, put them in the basement with some pizza, and let them have fun.
But things never go that simply.
One girl has some separation anxiety, so this was going to be her first sleep over!
But by 9pm things weren't looking good. We had to take her home
Meanwhile Justin and Karis would not go to bed with all this commotion.
Eden started to stress because her sleepover plans were falling apart, out of her control.
Have I mentioned how much control Eden likes to have? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
By 10pm another girl was ready to go home. There are reasons for this that would be very difficult to get into.
Eden had one friend left, but nothing went the way she hoped.
Things were looking bad on all fronts.

And I was bottling up all this energy, emotion, stress, etc.

We got through the night and got on to the service in the morning. Which was awesome, which I'll write more about later.
By last night I was exhausted, which is rare. All I wanted to do was watch the Steelers whomp New England (which they did) and go to bed. But we had our small group coming over.

And just when you think you have nothing left, you end up having an amazing time together.
It was one of our most beautiful times together- sharing, praying, and eating WAAAAY too much (the amount of snacks brought last night was insane!).

So what are my musing today after all this...

• Home can be a safe and relaxing place, but not always. Saturday nights are very difficult for me to be a dad/husband. But if we are having a sleep over, I need to man-up and do it!
• My tone sets the tone for the kids. I must let go of all anger, rage, bitterness and malice, just like I preached on two weeks ago. I can't hide it, bottle it up, or put it off- I need to get rid of it.
• I love my kids and their friends, and it is one of our most vital ministries to actually love our kids and their friends. Christians are always wondering how to love their neighbors. If your neighbors kids are sleeping in your house- LOVE THEM!
• Great community is energizing! I say it all the time, but our group is amazing!
• Quote of the night: "I'm getting more comfortable just talking like a Christian around people." In context it was very powerful for me. Just letting the love of Christ flow freely through our conversations with all people all the time. Not making a show of our faith, nor hiding our faith in a "tolerant" society. Just being who we are- people who are loved by God and love God back in return.

And I suppose that's all for now- lunch with a great friend and new father awaits!

PS, check out the article about Leah in Christian Life in London.
Leah, I'm proud to say, is one of those awesome people in our small group who I love!
http://www.clilondon.com/