Mark's Miscellanies

Mark Tubbs, Discerning Reader

2007-11-07T20:01:00.000-08:00

Funny, I notice it's been almost a year since I updated this site. Oh well. Much has gone on. Most salient to Christian blogdom is my entry into the world of book reviewing. Tim Challies of Challies.com kindly accepted me onto his rota of reviewers at Discerning Reader, quickly to become a sort of aide-de-camp of his. Reviewing has its perks, but the best part of the 'job' is the reading rigor and the writing practice. My latest post is a review of The Future of Justification by John Piper, my favorite author. I call his book ' a difficult pleasure.' The site also features some author interviews, some conducted by yours truly. If you're a reader, you might want to check it out. If you're a writer and you want your book reviewed, I may be inclined to read it...maybe...

Notice of Impending Closure

2006-10-29T21:38:00.000-08:00

It's more official sounding than it actually is. I have been approached to assume the responsibilities of CrossWay Community Church's Book Table. The opportunity excites me because I find it amazing that God has seen fit to put me a place of responsibility in an area I love - books! What kindness!

This blog will therefore be undergoing a twofold transition. 1) It will become the Book/Ends blog, providing book reviews and an ongoing discussion of the Chief End of reading and reviewing books (echoes of the Shorter Westminster Catechism, I know).
2) Yours truly will attempt to become more a master of the technical side of Blogger. This may be a foolish mountain to climb but I'm up to the challenge.

Please join me on Book/Ends in late December.

Time for one more rant/post before I go...

Kenny Rogers - Third Time's A Charm

2006-09-06T22:48:00.000-07:00

There's something about Kenny Rogers. He's charismatic, dynamic, and he's on pitch 99.9% of the time. Cheri's Mom gave us tickets for our 7th anniversary (thanks Janine) and KR didn't disappoint. We've seen him in Vancouver and Seattle before, this time at the River Rock Casino in Richmond. From experience I can say that fourth row at the River Rock is almost as good as the second row at the Queen Elizabeth.

He started with same song as the last time in Vancouver: "Love or Something Like It." He did all the favourites (Lucille, The Gambler, The Greatest, Coward of the County, Lady, Through the Years, Daytime Friends, Buy Me A Rose, and Islands in the Stream minus Dolly "the Bleater" Parton) and some newer ones from his latest album, Water & Bridges. He even sang some surprise selections, such as the First Edition's "Stand Up", John Hiatt's "Have A Little Faith in Me", which KR recorded on his Across My Heart album, released by Word, a Christian label (interesting bit of trivia, that), and "Owe Them More Than That", a tribute song to old country music legends. There was a Tim McGraw voiceover, just like on the album, and a roadie bought out a Tim McGraw cut-out that KR sang with/to. Funny stuff. He even had a few new jokes - and a whole lot of old ones. In fact, Cheri and I could predict what was coming.

KR is a consummate entertainer. But that is all he is. He is not a role model or a paragon of virtue, after three or four marriages and his latest, painfully noticeable run-in with a plastic surgeon's knife. I don't worship him (although I would venture, based on tonight, that a good many middle-aged women do). To put the questions about my son's name to rest, he was named after his Grandpa Ken. And no matter how you slice it, Kenny is a cool nickname.

KR may be back in town in a couple of years, when he hits the big Seven-O. And he still may sell out. But the way I figure it, I had better start looking for some good singers under sixty, before they all go the way of the dinosaurs.

Lists are fun. KR albums I own:

Greatest Hits
She Rides Wild Horses
Classics From The Heart
Water & Bridges (signed)
Love Songs
Back Home Again
With Love
Something Inside So Strong
All Time Greatest Hits KR & The First Edition
A Decade of Hits
The Gift
Christmas in America
KR Christmas
Twenty Great Years
There You Go Again
Hearts on Fire
Christmas From the Heart
The Gambler (Enhanced)
Back to the Well
A&E Live By Request
If Only My Heart Had A Voice
Across My Heart

I'm missing a few but there's no rush.

As the years of my life pass me by...

2006-08-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

Wowie Zowie! Has it been that long since a post? Suppose it has. And here I've been chastising friends such as Bart and Tim for failure to update. The failure, my friends, is mine.

Much, much, much has happened since July 24th. At that time my little family and I (including my wife Cheri and my kids Kenny and Lydia) were living in Bristol, England, attending Grace Church Bristol of Sovereign Grace Ministries. We had moved there in the twilight hours of 2005 so I could train to be a teacher, courtesy of Her Majesty's Government.

On July 31st two friends, Neil and Ken, drove us to the airport. Air Canada was incredibly helpful as we arrived with mountains of excess luggage and a brand new baby in tow. They processed us quickly and without complaint. Thank God we were flying that week instead of the next week, when Heathrow was under clamp-down due to the terrorist plot.

It didn't take us long to get over jet-lag, except for poor Kenny who didn't understand what had happened during the time change. The next Monday I began my teaching job with Traditional Learning Academy in Surrey. I'm responsible for supporting all the distance students taking English courses in Grades 10, 11 and 12. It's plain old fun.

Meanwhile Cheri is taking good care of our two littl'uns. Kenny's two upper incisors are coming in, so his mood is sour and his bum is rashy. Lydia is a happy little tyke who smiles gummy smiles and has mastered the quivery bottom lip to indicate unhappiness.

At the moment, at least until October 1st, we are staying with my parents in Ocean Park. Oh, and Julie (known to Kenny as "ah-Julie"). Oh, and Daniel, a 12 year-old Korean homestay student. I shouldn't forget Willow, Julie's over-babied feline pet. It's a full house, but we appreciate the space everybody has made in their lives to accommodate us.

On October 1st, maybe a day or two before, we will be moving into the upper suite of this quaint older house on Indian Fort Drive in Ocean Park. Indian Fort is the squiggly continuation of 20th Avenue, on which my parents live. We were actively looking in Langley or Cloverdale, but divine intervention has insisted we stay in Ocean Park. Fine with us - parents live close, our friends the Manns are close, the beach is close, and "village-style" shopping doesn't get much better than Ocean Park Shopping Centre. Well, there are little English towns that do it better, but we don't live in England anymore.

Best of all, we're plugged back in at CrossWay Community Church. We received such a warm welcome our first Sunday back. I'm sure some folks who have joined in the past 8 months were wondering who we are. We're the prodigals! It's great to be back in care group and playing on worship team. Like many have said, it's as if we were never gone.

I had planned on wrapping up this entry with a profound verse of Scripture, but sometimes a children's song says it best: "God is so good, he's so good to me" (well, us).

Final Countdown

2006-07-21T03:36:00.000-07:00

Time keeps slipping away into the future.

Time is like a paycheque. One minute it's there, the next minute it's gone.

The first quote is real, the second one is just me messing around. I had planned to post extensively today on the subject of the Paradox of the Christian Life courtesy of Tozer and Valley of Vision, based on the example of Christ in Philippians ("not considering equality with God as something to be grasped...") but I'm afraid that will have to wait until another day.

Friday today:

-Bill payments to be made
-Kenny's first salon haircut
-Bags and boxes to pack
-A weekend to plan
-As always, books to read!!

On that note, just finished Piper's Don't Waste Your Life, second time around; getting to the end of Tozer's Radical Cross; still wading through Spurgeon's Christ's Incarnation - excellent songwriting material.

And now for the particulars:

EDA: 31 July 2006
ETA: Haven't the foggiest
MOA: Air Canada

For all you who are weak on acronyms:

EDA = Estimated Date of Arrival
ETA = Figure it out
MOA = Mode of Arrival

See you in ten!!

The Spirituality of Sleep

2006-07-15T05:47:00.000-07:00

Seeing as I can't for the life of me get motivated to finish off some work at this exact minute, here are some thoughts on the spirituality of sleep that I've been tossing around lately, and experiencing firsthand.

"Sleep" from The Valley of Vision

Blessed Creator,

Thou hast promised thy beloved (me!) sleep;
Give me restoring rest needful for tomorrow's toil;
If dreams be mine, let them not be tinged with evil.
Let thy Spirit make thy time of respose
a blessed temple of his holy presence.

May my frequent lying down make me familiar with death,
the bed I approach remind me of the grave,
the eyes I now close picture to me their final closing.
Keep me always reading, waiting for admittance to thy presence.
Weaken my attachment to earthly things.
May I hold life loosely in my hand,
knowing that I receive it on condition of its surrender;
As pain and suffering betoken transitory health,
may I not shrink from a death that introduces me
to the freshness of eternal youth.
I retire this night in full assurance of one day
awaking with thee (oh the bliss of this glorious thought!)
All glory for this precious hope,
for the gospel of grace,
for thine unspeakable gift of Jesus,
for the fellowship of the Trinity.
Withhold not thy mercies in the night season;
thy hand never wearies,
thy power needs no repose,
thine eye never sleeps.

Help me when I helpless lie,
when my conscience accuses me of sin,
when my mind is harassed by foreboding thoughts,
when my eyes are held awake by personal anxieties.

Show thyself to me as the God of all grace,
love and power;
thou hast a balm for every wound,
a solace for every anguish,
a remedy for every pain,
a peace for all disquietude.
Permit me to commit myself to thee awake or asleep.

"Withhold not thy mercies in the night season..." Just as I am writing this, the CD Cheri put on is playing Mark Altrogge's song "Mercies Anew", whose lyrics read "and at the end of the day, when my labours are through, I will sing of your mercies anew." Echoes of Jeremiah, from Lamentations 3:21-24: "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him.”

But isn't it the case that so often when we lie down to sleep, this is the time when our flesh, our thoughts, and the Accuser come to churn up anxiety and worry in our hearts, even though Christ has said "Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." (John 14:27) I could be tempted to say that 'I come from a long line of worriers' or that worry 'is only human' but that type of reasoning would only be putting an artificial gloss on the problem until the next time, or the next night. The answer lies in the above verses from Lamentations: "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope." This is what Martyn Lloyd-Jones and John Piper and C.J. Mahaney and Jerry Bridges have all referred to as 'preaching the gospel to yourself' in their writing. I won't go into detail here, but it is the essence of Jesus' words in John 14:27 before he counsels our hearts against fear: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you." In Colossians 3:15 Paul admonishes us to "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." Paul is advising that we abdicate the goverance of the state of our hearts, which is futile anyhow on a human level, and give it up to the content and truth of the gospel of Christ - that gospel which is in and of itself the tangible manifestation of the 'peace' Paul refers to. In other words, it's not a vague, hazy good feeling of "all's right with the world," although that is generally true because of God's sustaining sovereignty over his creation. Rather, it's a content-rich, informed knowledge that Christ has made peace with the Father on our behalf, securing everlasting peace and redemption with God, even into eternity. We can surely sleep the sleep of the blessed upon the grounds of that promise.

What does this have to do with sleep? Everything. Consider:

It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Psalm 127:2

If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Proverbs 3:24

And the following, which my friend Greg sent me, and sums up all the above:

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8

So thank you Greg, and thank you anonymous puritans, and thank you David and Solomon, and thank you all the writers mentioned above, and above all, thank you, glorious Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thank you for the sleep that acts as a reminder of the sleep of death that will introduce us into heaven, and which provides us with restoring rest needful for tomorrow's toil.

A final thought, courtesy of hymnwriter Frances R Havergal:

Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest;
finding in his promise perfect peace and rest.
(from "Like A River Glorious")

Sleep well and wake, either here or in heaven.

New Addition: Lydia Rose Tubbs

2006-07-03T03:36:00.000-07:00

Lydia Rose Tubbs (aka Sniffer)

Size Small: both photo and baby. Apologies for the size of the photo, but not for the size of the baby.

Vital Stats: born right on time (but a week before expected) on June 21st 2006 in Westbury-on-Trym in Bristol, at Southmead Hospital. 6 lbs 14 1/2 oz birthweight, arriving after just over two hours of hard labour.

Mom Cheri, big brother Kenny, baby Lydia and dad Mark are all doing fine except for nasty sniffles that keep us up at night.

Fast Fact: our midwife's daughter is also named Lydia. Small world.

Welcome Lydia. I'll post a prayer for you very soon.

As Cool As They Come

2006-06-06T02:05:00.000-07:00

Book Review: A History of Reading

2006-06-06T01:48:00.000-07:00

Book Review: A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel
Toronto: Penguin Books, 1996. 372 pages.

I thought it fitting that I begin the Book Review section of my blog (which I plan to call Endpaper Pages for reasons I hope will be apparent later) with a sparkling piece of non-fiction entitled A History of Reading by Argentinian-born Canadian writer Alberto Manguel. I can’t resist throwing in a few superlatives: OUTSTANDING! INGENGIOUS! But this book truly does merit them all. It’s not a Christian book, although the author is fairly well versed in the Scriptures - pardon the pun. It traces the “history of reading” (I’ll explain the quotation marks in a moment) fairly equitably through the past seven thousand or so years.

Before I proceed further, let me add a disclaimer I have borrowed from a book called Italy Fever by Darlene Marwitz: “For obvious and countless other reasons, my reading experience will be different than yours. What I like, you may hate. Books that race my heart may leave you cold. My reading is prejudiced by the sum of my years, not yours.” Disclaimer over.

Back to A History of Reading: I first read Manguel’s writing – the final chapter of this book, called "Endpaper Pages," as it happens – in a literary criticism course for the University of Waterloo. I was immediately struck by the fluidity and unselfconsciousness of his prose, a great accomplishment for an author whose first language – nor his second, third or fourth, I believe – is English. Manguel just knows so much, so much about so much. Another sign of a brilliant writer, I think, is that "Endpaper Pages" both wraps up A History of Reading as a whole and is capable of standing on its own as a self-contained text in a LitCrit course.

The blurb on the back cover begins with a cliché-ridden phrase: “A History of Reading is a wonderful celebration of the human race.” Blech, yuck, bah humbug. And it’s simply not accurate. I don’t find that Manguel celebrates the human race so much as the human endeavour of reading – a fact that should be evident from the title. Some blurb writers should be charged with literary crime.

The quotation marks (or speech marks, as the English call them) in the first paragraph of this reveiew refer to Manguel’s imaginative chronology of the history of reading; in short, there isn’t any – chronology, that is. The narrative (and I feel justified in calling it a narrative although it’s technically non-fiction) weaves in and out of various centuries and literary traditions. But even the ‘real’ world is up for debate as far as Manguel is concerned. He all but comes out and says that the ‘real’ worlds are the ones between the covers of books.

Not to pop the balloon, but it’s a romantic notion rather than a realistic one. Books can become idols like anything else. Let’s define an idol as anything that has inordinate control over one’s actions. If you are only able to make it through the day because you have a good story waiting for you at home, then you probably have an idol. If you regularly choose to read a good story rather than your Bible, you may have an idol. All of these are areas of conviction I’ve worked through, and continue to work through, in my own life. None of this is an indictment of reading. I have simply wanted to put books and reading into proper perspective before I move on to other reviews, and this book has afforded me a means through which to both gain and impart that perspective.

So sit back in your favourite wingback chair, put on a pot of Twinings to brew, and relish the reviews. I sincerely hope you do.

Sayings of the Wise Pt 1

2006-05-22T02:06:00.000-07:00

English majors and teachers (both of which I am) love playing with words, and from time to time I come up with pithy little sayings - if I do say so myself. Here are two such beasts.

1) When you need to explain that you would really like to try something but are afraid of failure, spin it this way: "I would if I could but I can't so I won't." Incidentally, I've taught modal verbs of probability and possibility using this phrase.

2) You know we are living in a Starbucks world when you hear the following play on words: "That's a tall order on such short notice."

Enjoy and use until your heart's content - or until your friends and family are thoroughly tired of them. If you keep using them beyond that point, it just becomes offensive.

When Broadband Goes Broadbad

2006-05-22T02:02:00.000-07:00

Quick bulletin - we have discovered that there is absolutely no chance of us having broadband while here in the UK due to a lack of a USB port on our CPU. WAS! (What a shame) Thus all posting and emailing will continue to take place from the school where I work. Which also means that since it's mid-term break next week, little posting or emailing will take place, barring a couple of quick email checks at the local library. JFYI.

A Day in the Life of Kenny

2006-05-22T01:30:00.000-07:00

I feel like all I ever do on this blog is apologize...again, I find myself posting a week later than I had planned. Pretend it's still last week, and you'll get the full gist.

Quelle semaine! What a week! I began it knowing that it would be the busiest of my entire programme – and Wednesday in particular – but it has been that and then some. I’ve been teaching some fairly demanding Year 7s, 8s and 9s but they’re all pretty much under my thumb now. Then there’s the Year 11s, with whom I have an excellent rapport on account of their all being around 16 years old, but they are in shutdown mode because of their school leaving exams coming up, called GCSEs. This is the end of compulsory education for them – yes, at 16. I’m not in favour of it, but that’s a matter for another blog entry.

In other news, Cheri has polished up her contribution, entitled A Day in the Life of Kenny, so without further ado…

6:30-7:00 Kenny wakes up. His quiet “Mommy” turns into a demanding “Mommy-AH!!” (get me out of bed now!).

7:00-7:15 Breakfast. His own cereal (pronounced ‘cirral’) followed by spoonfuls of Mommy & Daddy’s cereal.

7:15-8:00 Free Playtime. Usually follows Mark around while he gets ready for work. Always wants to play on the bed, calls this “boing boing”.

8:00-9:00 Mommy playtime and get dressed. We usually read at least a dozen books, his favourite being “Jesus” and “Toot Toot” which is Thomas the Tank the Tank Engine of course.

9:00-9:30 Roomtime. He likes to listen to the Tarzan soundtrack while he plays. His favourite song is the shoo-be-doo song, which he tries to sing and just butchers. Usually does exactly the same thing everyday. Lines up the Teddy Bears, organises all the people on the pirate ship, makes a tower out of his poles, lines up all the toys that are left over, stacks all his blocks, knocks 'em all down and yells and the top of his lungs “oh no!!”.

9:30-10:00 Tidy up and get ready to go for a walk. He will walk around getting ready saying “a what” meaning a walk of course. Kenny puts his toys away and it takes 30 mins. when you do it one toy at a time!

10:00-11:00 Out for a walk. Sometimes just to the shops, other times to the park to kick a ball around, he calls this “ball kick”. “Ball” is low inflection, “kick” is high, as he says it.

11:30-12:00 Lunch. He asks for his “Mote” which is milk and his “Toby” which is his Thomas yogurt.

12:00-2:30 Nap. Usually talks to himself and uses all his words at least once and says “night night bear, night night duck” (because he has bears and ducks on his curtain) before falling asleep.

2:30 Kenny’s up. Always acknowledges bears and ducks on his curtain and then takes him about 15-30 mins. to adjust to being awake again.

3:00-5:30 Snack and Play. Kenny likes to eat Popsicles and cookies for his snack. He loves to play outside on the patio, which usually involves water, or he likes to “colour”, which is usually re-arranging his crayons. This keeps him busy until the Royal Homecoming of Daddy and he always has to announce what he is playing with at the moment Mark comes in the door, then it’s all smiles and excitement.

5:30-6:00 Dinner. Kenny is getting very good at feeding himself and will eat almost anything.

7:00-7:30 Bath Time. Enjoy a nice soak with his bath time buddies: turtle, whale, duck, book and cup.

7:30 Bed. He’s pretty good at going to sleep right away but usually spends up to 30 mins. saying good-night to the bear and duck, and trying all his words at least once more.

Looking ahead: Kenny looks forward to going home to Canada and seeing all his Crossway buddies (you know who you are!) and taking long walks on the beach.

Cute Kennyisms

-Currently has a foot obsession, always talking about ‘beet’ and ‘toesies’
-Likes to play peek-a-boo but says “see you” instead
-One of his favourite activities is to look through his box of photos
-Counting 1-2-3 in Kennyspeak: By Two Pee (and sometimes Pour)
-Likes to call himself a good boy (“Bo Boy”) and when he’s not good yells “obey” (“Bobay!”).
-Has taken up the air guitar while listening to music (“mesa”)
-Loves to dance and has invented a move called “the floor polish” where he squats and does the sailor arm move close to the floor
-When we ask Kenny if he’s going to be a big brother he smiles and says "no" in the sweetest voice
-His favourite animal sound is the lion and he even does paw actions!
-Loves to colour but it’s more like re-arranging crayons

Bussing it in Bristol

2006-05-10T02:30:00.000-07:00

I had another opportunity to preach the gospel to myself today. Having missed last Thursday and Tuesday (yesterday) because of a cough I can't shake, I felt really upbeat this morning, getting up at 6am (!!!!! for anyone who knows I like my morning sleep), shaving my beard off (are you happy, Mom?), and generally making a new start. My Muesli tasted sweet and Kenny was a darling. I was out the door just after 7am with a Tim Horton's travelmug full of Taylor's of Harrogate coffee, Lazy Sunday blend - thanks to Cheri. So far so good.

Then I waited for the #41 for an hour. I lost count of the number of #43s that went by, with each driver telling me the #41 was 6-10 minutes behind him. At 8am it finally came, and the fare was higher than I remember - £2.50, when I only had £2.38. I told the driver, and he said "well, that's what it is." And oh, the anger in my heart. Not towards the bus driver, but towards the situation, and by extension towards God himself. I had to remind myself that "on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand..." To cut a long story short, I arrived at school with a few minutes to spare and everything has gone just fine. God is gracious.

I've heard good reviews of a book called "Uprooting Anger" by Robert D. Jones. Anybody read it?

In other news, I can definitely confirm that as far as our family and Air Canada are concerned, we are returning to Canada on July 31st, 2006. So the rumours are true. We're very excited to rejoin friends and family in beautiful southwestern British Columbia. See you soon!

Here We Go Again...

2006-05-03T01:51:00.000-07:00

I'd like to take this opportunity to broadcast more widely the news that the BT installer is coming tomorrow. BT reserves the right to find something wrong during the installation, as always, but here's hoping that we are fully communicado in just over twenty-four hours.

In other news, the Bear herself is in the process of composing a blog entitled 'A Day in the Life of Kenny.' Currently healthy, if not yet wealthy and wise, Kenny is enjoying 11-12 hour sleeps, 2-3 hour naps, and scads of happy playtime in between. I won't give any more away for fear of being accused of being a spoiler. Watch this space. If BT comes through as promised and hoped, the post may appear sooner rather than later.

No less than four (FOUR!) rolls of film are on their way to the TruPrint lab on the other side of Britain, where they do a very good job of developing and provide you with free replacement film and all the images on CD for a reasonable price. So all you relatives and friends, watch your email inboxes for a truckload of new photos. I'll then try to spruce up this site with some Kenny pics.

Busy time at Sir Bernard Lovell Secondary School. I'm currently teaching a revision unit for Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck to unmotivated 16 year-olds writing their GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education exams) and a Medieval Romance Epic/Detective Fiction unit to Year 9s (trust me, the genres do work together). Next week I begin a poetry unit with Year 7s and a fun unit on the Truman Show to Year 9s, who have just written the SATs (Standard Assessement Tests) and whose brains are obviously on the fritz.

Have recently read or re-read:

Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp
Worship in Spirit and in Truth by John Frame
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
The Cross-Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney (original print run)

Am currently reading or re-reading:

The Radical Cross by A.W. Tozer
Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Sovereignty of God by Arthur W. Pink (an ongoing project. It's one of those books where you read a line and have to gaze into space for a bit to soak in the full effect of what he is saying)

Anybody like to share with me what you are reading at the moment?

A Towsand Apple-Ogies...

2006-04-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

Something I heard in a movie - can't remember the title or the character - a while ago. Translation: a thousand apologies, with specific reference to the lack of activity on this blog. British Telecom continues to shirk their responsibilities in the installation of our telephone and broadband connections.

In the meantime consider the heart-based ramifications of the inconvenience caused by the above. In our lives, Cheri and I have expected to encounter many trials, namely lack of finances, job loss, wakeful nights punctuated by a toddler's screams followed by the bellows of our upstairs neighbour - just for starters. But never did we anticipate the tribulations and suffering of lacking basic phone and internet capabilities in the home. Our initial incredulous response was 'isn't this (the United Kingdom) a technologically advanced northern hemisphere western nation?' Which translates into a demand as follows: 'we have the ABSOLUTE AND UNALIENABLE RIGHT' (did you like my rip-off of the Declaration of Independence?) 'to have the facilities of telecommunication at our beck and call.' I trust I don't have to go into why those aren't unalienable rights...

But more to the point, our reactions betray the self-centeredness (dare I say wickedness, a la Jonathan Edwards? I do!) of the human heart. It is not wrong to sense inconvenience, but the true test of a heart is in its reaction to that inconvenience. Instead of letting a bitter root grow in our hearts toward BT, should we not pity their poor customer service? But seriously, how trivial to be so bent out of shape over this? Consider John Piper's explanation of taking things for granted: "...what there is in the world - things that, if we didn't have, we would pay a million dollars to have, but having them, ignore" (from Don't Waste Your Life). He wasn't referring directly to telecommunication tools, but the parallel is clear.

This gives rise to all the things that we do have, i.e. our Bibles, tasty food, even our spouses, our children, our friends and family, that we take for granted - which if we didn't have, we would pay a million dollars to have, but having them, ignore. Or just use them or consume them without thinking or without giving thanks to God for them.

The practical application in my life is this: when I get home from work I want to take joy in seeing Cheri and Kenny, to savour the food that Cheri serves for dinner, to participate energetically in Kenny's bedtime routine, to wake early and remember the finished work of Christ at the break of my day. Easier said than done, but the grace of God is sufficient.

Resolved then, to forgive BT for poor customer service; to confess my heart is grieved by not being the first on their installation list; to look to God in Christ for my soul's satisfaction. And God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him (Piper again).

Unexpected Hiatus

2006-04-07T05:48:00.000-07:00

Many apologies for the unexpected hiatus. Our landlord had failed to advise us that our apartment building was devoid of landline/internet capabilities and so we have been waiting with baited breath for British Telecom to install a line. As of today at 12:45pm Greenwich Mean Time, they had not yet arrived. I'm praying that they will be rectifying the problem as I pull into our carpark after I leave the library, from whence I am filing this entry. I hope to have the blog updated with some interesting material by this time next week.

In the meantime, for some really stimualting blogging, check out www.worshipmatters.com...

Urgent Prayer Request

2006-03-30T06:49:00.000-08:00

No, not for us, although we are beginning the process of moving to Bristol this evening.

The prayer request is for Kenny's little buddy baby Zac, 10 months old, who fell down the stairs with his Mom this morning. Zac is the nephew of Grace Church pastor Nathan Smith and grandson of Neil & Sandra Smith, who graciously offered us hospitality when our accommodations in Crumlin proved impossible transportation-wise. Please pray that our sovereign God would heal Zac's fractured skull and release his mom Emma from any feelings of guilt.

For your information, here is our new information:

2 Broadfield Court
478 Soundwell Road
Kingswood, Bristol
BS15 1JU

Tel: 0117 324 0134 (011 44 117 324 0134 from North America)

Thank you again for your prayers.

Strange Day in Newport

2006-03-28T12:50:00.000-08:00

Apologies for yet another text-dominated entry, but today was a bit weird. Nice, but weird.

It all started yesterday when the Head Teacher of the school hosting my primary placement informed my that Tuesday was a one-off day of industrial action. Then last night BBC News announced that today was the biggest general strike seen in the UK since the 1920s. So there we are, an impromptu day off. No complaints.

Kenny was up at 6:15 this morning, screaming his little blond head off. Not a usual occurrence but these things happen. I confess I needed much of God's grace to respond sympathetically to my wailing infant. I brewed a tea for Cheri, who was sleeping in (usually it's her that gets up with Kenny) at 7:37 and she came down around 8am. Shortly after Cheri got up I went back to bed to lay down. I should mention here that despite scads of sleep I haven't been able to catch up on sleep. It's probably something to do with our training + commute + moving phase of life. I got up perhaps an hour later and we all played together until Kenny started showing signs of obvious hunger, namely tugging on the child-safe cupboard door saying "nummy, nummy." A grilled cheese sarny (slang for 'sandwich' in the UK) for Cheri, and Beans & Eggs on Toast for Kenny and I. Imagine Kenny droning on non-stop for ten minutes while Cheri prepares lunch: "beans, beans, beans, beans, beans, beans..."

Then Kenny went down for what turned out to be a three-hour nap, and Cheri and I joined him. So very tired! After his nap we went down to the shops in Newport we had only discovered earlier this week, when we found Kenny a brand-name pair of walking shoes for only £6.99! By this time the wind was kicking up something fierce, a regular occurrence around here in Wales.

On the way home we pulled to the side of the road to let a police cruiser, lights flashing and sirens blaring, make a five-point turn to return the way it had come. A paddy wagon followed shortly after. Then we passed an ambulance parked on the curbside where a paramedic was hunched over a body covered by a white sheet. Now I don't know paramedical procedures, but I'm quite sure that paramedics usually load injured people into waiting ambulances. We were waiting for traffic lights to change while watching the scene unfold, but no move was ever made towards the ambulance. Anybody care to venture a guess why not? Maybe one of you readers who work for the emergency services?

We stopped at Sainsbury's (supermarket) for groceries and had just gone through checkout when a store security officer hared off into the parking lot followed by lanky cashier. They ran towards the petrol pumps and disappeared inside the station. As an isolated incident, we would have just scratched our heads and carried on. But after the police car and the ambulance and the body on the curb, it was just another strange thing to add to the list.

This has been Tuesday from Newport. Stay tuned for a book review and other exciting entries in the days ahead. Again, apologies to our viewers for the boring slice-of-life post.

Commute No More

2006-03-26T04:30:00.000-08:00

Last Friday was a momentous day in our UK journey - no more commuting from Newport to Bristol! For some perspective on the commute, log on to www.theaa.com, find the Directions page, and type NP44 3GB to BS30 8TS. And those postcodes aren't simply Newport proper to Bristol proper; no, they're from Llantarnam (north and west of Newport) to Oldland Common (north and east of Bristol). For all you Lower Mainlanders who might be reading this, that's essentially saying you're commuting from Surrey to North Van, when in reality it's from White Rock to Capilano.

The first leg of my daily commute was driving 10-15 minutes through Newport in our little borrowed green Fiat Cinquecento (pronounced Chinky-Chento in the UK - I know, it sounds racist) to our carpool pickup spot. Then another 45-60 minutes down the M4 to the school. Half the time we commute in a comfy Vauxhall Astra sedan, while the other half we ride a Peugeot I-don't-know-what that lacks backseat headrests. I've spent many hours commuting nodding off in the head-down position (for all you CrossWay people, the same way I used to nod off during Tony's Sunday morning messages when I was doing the Sun/Province paper route in the wee hours of the morning).

Knowing I would be commuting this way for a good 2 1/2 months, I resolved to challenge myself two ways: 1) to redeem the commute somehow by meditating on "whatever is true...honorable...just...pure...lovely...commendable" (Philippians 4:8); and 2) to take the opportunity to "incarnate Christ" (Paul David Tripp's words, not mine) to the teaching colleagues I was commuting with.

Redeeming the commute (C.J. Mahaney's phrase) was far more difficult in the first month, when I was faced with the over-the-top comedic stylings of Chris Moiles & Co. on BBC Radio 1. He is a very funny man but much of his humour is very crude and cutting. On most mornings the radio was turned up full blast, which negated any communication. Thankfully my birthday saw a card arrive from my parents which contained enough birthday ££ to invest in the low-end Apple iPod. I was able to download many messages from C.J., Joshua Harris, Mark Dever, Randy Alcorn and John Piper - and did it ever make a difference! I was able to revel in the truth of God's Word and tune out Chris Moiles.

The second prong of my personal challenge was to evangelize where and when possible. It was much more difficult from the backseat but I was able to comment here and there. At one point one of the girls asked what I was listening to and was able to share that I had biblical 'lectures' saved on my iPod (I didn't think she knew what a sermon was). Also, on the day that the other girl drove home by herself I was able to share briefly with her my beliefs on heaven. That door had been opened because of a fatal accident on the M4 that morning. So while there haven't been any dramatic drop-to-the-knees conversion moments, there have been opportunties to season the commute with the truth, and it will not return empty (Isaiah 55:11).

While I am thankful that God allowed me to undertake these challenges, I am overwhelmingly thankful that the end of that commute means 3-4 more hours with Cheri & Kenny everyday. I should add that after school I was waiting at least another hour to leave the school. During those extra hours I had to check my heart countless times, for while my desire to go home to my family was so strong, it was impure in that I was resenting my carpool partners for taking so long to leave the school. Confession over!

This next week brings four days of a primary school placement just five minutes from where we are living, followed by a weekend move to Bristol. It's been a long time in coming, but God has given us the grace and patience to see it through. I will attempt a couple of posts before we move, but as ever, please hold lightly to that pledge...

Why Blog?

2006-03-20T01:54:00.000-08:00

Many might answer, "why not blog?" It's a fun thing to do, and if it's fun it must be good. That's a logical fallacy, of course - not that I'm against fun, but I am against bad logic...

To return to the question at hand: the answer bears many factors in mind. Firstly, there's the distance between family and friends in Canada and where we are currently living in the UK. This blog, therefore, acts as a personal journey of "Kenny & Family," as my sister Julie once referred to us. Secondly, because I've always believed there should be a 'redemptive' purpose to blogs (to lovingly exhort people to growth and wisdom), this blog acts as a tool by which to sharpen iron with iron (Proverbs 27:17). Thirdly, seeing as virtually all my leisure time not dedicated to family and friends is devoted to reading and writing and listening to music, it's a forum to comment on books and music that I read and listen to, respectively (couldn't end that sentence with a proposition now, could I?). When I figure out how to add links - I'm painfully new to HTML, as you can tell - I will no doubt be linking ad nauseum.

It wouldn't be wise to go on at length about blogging, because wiser men than I have blogged their thoughts on blogging already: see blogs by Tim Challies, Bob Kauflin, and Mark Dever, just to name a few. I appreciate and commend these men's insights regarding the blogosphere. As I said, I'll add links when I learn how.

So sit back, scroll down, and enjoy God on the journey (1 Chronicles 29:15)...

A SMILE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS...

2006-03-18T12:11:00.000-08:00

Sippy cup: $5. Bib: $3. Stripey Sweater: $9. Booster Seat: $14. Pure Joy: Priceless.