Maritimers' Group and Sunday School

When you think about it, life is just a series of moments that God holds together for us. I've read, heard, and certainly believe that we don't inhale a single breath without His sustaining grace. But just as we have voluntary and involuntary functions--unless you actually tell and direct your stomach in digesting food--so is life. Sometimes we can direct it willfully and sometimes all we can do is ride the wave. For me, I spent a massive chunk of my 29 years on hiding from life, but that didn't stop it from moving on without me. And now that I am, generally speaking, surrendered to God's will, things are happening. This morning was one of those milestones, but first I need to relate a praise note from yesterday.

12 September 2009
A few weeks before school started, I received an email from a kind man of God named Tony. He was a Maritimer living in Caronport who happened to be on staff at Briercrest. In his message he indicated that he hosts a weekly group for Maritimers and invited me to join. And so we convened for the first time this year for brunch at his place. I met his wife Gwen and a bunch of seasoned pros; I think me and another fellow were the only news ones in attendance. Altogether we were about 12, though his message noted that there are roughly 30 people on campus from the Maritimes. Anyway, it was a great blessing to meet the group, and I am certain I will have occasion this year to share some memories with them. After brunch we played a few outdoor games to break the ice. We also spotted a colony of ladybugs that had claimed a tree in his backyard. We're talking hundreds. After that I returned home and did a bit of reading.

It bears mentioning that I also went to Moose Jaw with JP and Mike and purchased a Brita, a tea kettle, and some coffee mix. Instant coffee might not compare to Starbucks, but I will need a more cost effective fix if I'm going to make ends meet this year. I'm actually enjoying my first cup as I write this. The Lord is good, ya?


13 September 2009
Although I had planned to hitch a ride to church with one of my profs, I had been unable to contact him this weekend, so I made other arrangements through Pastor Dyan to get to First Free Methodist in Moose Jaw. I do hope I will have an opportunity to bounce around a bit re: carpooling, because I do want to get to know my prof better, as well as some other families that commute from Caronport. But for this morning I was blessed to make the trek through the kindness of Rob and Jenny and their three kids. (You'll note I don't use last names here out of respect, but I wish I could make them more known to you; they are all delightful people.)

When we arrived there, I was escorted by Pastor Wade to my new classroom. Having chatted with Pastor Dyan about the lesson plan they'd followed over the last three years, it was unofficially decided that I would facilitate a very informal but intentional class that centres on the prophets. Those of you who know me already understand what an anomaly I am, but Isaiah to Malachi is my favourite chunk of Scripture. My goal was not to be so curriculum-based, so I decided that I would try to convey a sense of wonder and therefore wrote God's message to Belshazzar (Daniel 5) on the white board... in Aramaic. I then invited them to tell me what it was, and some very astute responses noted that one of the words appears twice. (I had been forewarned that they were a keen bunch, and it was no lie!) We then discussed the back story a bit, and we considered what it would have been like to be sitting in a banquet hall and have that appear without a human agent. This sort of approach is what I want to pursue this year. Of course, I can't "teach" someone the Bible; that's the Holy Spirit's job, exclusively. But if we can engage in some critical thinking, I believe we can all grow and spur one another on. (Seriously, these teens are so adept that they will teach me more than I teach them; trust me.)

We then discussed what precisely we'd like to study, and the mob response was, strangely enough, Revelation. And if we can sort of pull back a bit here, as I did this morning, it would be very entertaining for me to transport myself back in time and ask James circa secular 2007 how he'd feel about studying the Book of Revelation with a bunch of teens in Moose Jaw.

So yeah, I am psyched for this year. Truly. I feel like I've been blessed with the best Sunday school class in the world, and you just couldn't convince me otherwise. We will be tackling a section of the Bible that I had hoped could wait until next year--we really ought to study Daniel, Zechariah, the parables of the kingdom, select Psalms, and so on, before tackling this. But after the church service Pastor Dyan mentioned to me that many of them would graduate in spring and then move on to other pastures, so I will endeavour to meet the curiosity head on. Speaking of that, we had one strapping young fellow who very politely indicated he might not make it very often, on account of how early class is. I asked him if he'd be more enticed to come if we acted out a lot of these battles and sieges, to which the whole group responded enthusiastically. So if you're trying through Moose Jaw one Sunday morning, and you see a bald, bearded guy playing war with a bunch of Nerf toys and some older teens, we're probably just there in body. In spirit, we could be on Mount Carmel or on our way to exile in Babylon. But the next week we'll be back in the classroom diving into how those events pertain to the great apocalyptic masterpiece of the New Testament. Because, in all conceivable (to me) ways, God has chosen this for me during this phase of my life. And based on everything I know, He's chosen the best for me.

'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6)