Collage

Some pictures from Thanksgiving and early December of Phil, Erica and our family, there's even a few of my mother in law in there somewhere. If you are willing to click through you can find a supersized version.

(p.s. Mom, I will try and mail you one of these before Christmas!)

Daddy plays with camera, Olivia reads and jokes around

So tonight Olivia played with the camera...

She looked at her book while I played with lights
(for those who care... these were taken with a Vivitar 283 and a Metz MecaBlitz both old as the hills. The Metz was shot through a scrim triggered by Cactus V2s and the Vivitar triggered optically)

Olivia hamming it up with a toque.

Here she is reminding us she is cute == Here she's telling me she's bored

Thinking about life with hats.

Well, she's researching barnyard dancing.

Maybe one day I'll really figure out how to balance multiple flashes. If you're not a camera geek the following might be boring.
The Vivitar I have is very easy to set power level on. The Metz flash units (I have 4 of them) I don't use often as you set the power levels by telling the Thyristor what your camera settings are. Trouble is, the thyristor in the flash is not at the same location as the camera, so I've been having problems figuring out how to meter the flash so that I can balance it with another strobe or with ambient light.

Borrowing a technique...

Well Tara's blog seems to generate a fair amount of traffic and people seem to like the pictures she so regularly posts, I thought I would spoil you all with the same.

We had fun taking some pictures this morning. I spent some time talking to family on the phone today and it was good. Life feels mildly chaotic at the moment from a myriad of sources so it's nice to connect.

I'm humbled by the great people that live in my house and the folks that are in my family. You're all good eggs, the whole lot of you.

Thanks.

If you stare at this picture you will long for spring, so if it's spring where you are look at this picture, otherwise, move along

If you stare at this picture you will long for spring, so if it's spring where you are look at this picture, otherwise, move along
Originally uploaded by salguodbocaj

I think I'm done with snow.
Some green grass, leafy trees and a few flowers wouldn't hurt.

(these are flowers I got at the grocery story 5 for $3.99 - you can't go wrong for $3.99!!)

hidden beauty

hidden crystals
Originally uploaded by salguodbocaj

I used this picture this morning in my sermon. I found this underneath our rain barrel that the boys had put in the middle of the yard late last fall. It had bugged me a little all winter that it was in the "wrong" spot and so yesterday I went to move it.

I flipped it over and found this. I thought it was really beautiful. Imagine that beauty where I expected to find nothing but dead grass and mud.

Today was a bittersweet day. I thought our service went very very well. I thought that while it likely wasn't the best sermon I had ever preached that it was a solid effort both in content and delivery (and what more can you want anyway?). That being said, some "stuff" happened. It was enough to make the rest of the day a little lousy (not to mention that it's snowing again).

I suppose I need to listen to myself; I need to find the beauty where I was expecting only dead grass and mud.

"Dear God,

Allow me to see the world through your eyes. Allow me to speak your words both in the pulpit and in the rest of my life. Give me wisdom and peace in knowing you. Would you help me and my family in all things. Thank you for your faithfulness. Amen."

As if I always crouch down looking in the distance in the middle of the night...

As if I always crouch down looking in the distance in the middle of the night...
Originally uploaded by salguodbocaj

The other night after youth group the sky was quite nice and I took my photo stuff and went for a little walk. I decided to try to take some neat shots.

They're not the greatest ever, but I like them and honestly making pictures like this is a lot of fun for me. It clears my head. Didn't have too much time to make photos that night (and it was a little cold out) but this was fun for me.

Hope you are finding ways to have fun these days.

at our supper table...

Aiden: Anyone wanna hear a joke?
Tara: ME!
Aiden: What's the difference between a banana and a banana?
Tara: I don't know, what is the difference between a banana and a banana?
Aiden: A TOILET!!!

Your guess is as good as mine.

Does absence make the heart grow fonder?

It's been some time since I posted on this blog (May 23rd). It's not for a lack of thinking about it. In fact I have thought often I wish I had something intelligent to say... well, today, I'm going to try and blog something and it just might not be that intelligent.

Since we all last tuned in: My boys had a MASSIVE mud wallowing party; I had a birthday, arranged our 3 week holiday to Ontario, been to Winnipeg for District Conference, planned a wedding, visited a family- before-during-and after a funeral, my daughter turned 6 months old, and some other stuff that my brain has shut out.
I've been more tired than I have been in some time. I have however been very thankful for my new camera, an Nikon D40, and have pushed the button to take a picture literally over three thousand times (not all of them are that great - but some of them are spiffy!)

For those of you who know about my Flickr page (you will if you've clicked on any of the above links-except 1), I haven't uploaded too many as many of them are of people, and I'm not too keen on posting too many pictures without permission. Although I did just make 138 pictures I took available to our District office of some I took from our District Conference in Winnipeg, some are okay, some are kinda neat and some are just so-so.

All that to say, I'm enjoying my new camera immensely. I feel very much at peace when I'm behind the camera. I am continually learning and trying new things. I am learning that whatever it is you do to recharge/de-stress/relax/unwind/renew-your-passion; you have to do it.

That's a little of what's going on with me, what's with you?

D40!

So,
We left the house Sunday afternoon and went to Saskatoon. We spent the night at Colony House Bed & Breakfast, a nice little B&B. Tara had a doctor's appointment today. We had intended on this being a bit of a retreat for Tara and I. We didn't really need to spend the night in the city, we could've made the drive in the morning; but it was good. It was nice to have only one kid to worry about. The boys are a lot of fun, but I guess I'm just not able to keep tabs on three kids and be able to enjoy conversation with my wife at the same time. Hopefully that skill will come in time.
We had decided to do some shopping. First stop, London Drugs; where I bought a Nikon D40, a two gigabyte SD memory card and a UV filter. (and for those of you familiar with the Nikon gold boxes, don't worry, they're inside, one for the body one for the lens...) The picture of Olivia in the car seat is the first picture taken with the camera.
Then we got to cruise the new Wal-Mart in S'toon, found some stuff for the house. We also hit Toy R Us for some toys for the boys and Old Navy for some clothes for Olivia. It appears that ALL of the stores in the city of Saskatoon are dangerously short of clothing for little girls in the six-nine month age and size range. It also appears that children who like space ships are out of luck as the only space ship toy we could find at several stores was a Star Wars "transformer". For the Star Wars savy among you , it is a Emperor Palpatine shuttle that transforms into a robot version of Palpatine. It's really more transformer than spaceship. I was disappointed. Why can't they just make a spaceship toy anymore?!?
After a stop a DQ we jumped on the highway and came home.
It's so much nicer to make the drive from Saskatoon to Tisdale without snow and in daylight. We got home and the boys were super excited to see us, which is always fun. The picture of Aiden is literally his first moment seeing me, now tell me does it get any better than that?!

I also got to experimenting with my lenses that was from my old Nikon FE (a virtually completely manual 35mm SLR camera) and found, that YES they are compatible.

At some point I will be creating and posting more pictures on the Flickr site. I'm pretty pumped at getting a new camera.

This picture of Owen was the best pose from trying out the manual lenses.

Oh, and Tara's doctor appointment could've been done over the phone...

If there was any doubt...

One of the discussions that routinely comes up with our family is how much the kids have grown. Often it is phrased "look how big you are!". Aiden thinks this is great. Olivia doesn't understand words, but she's excited about any and all attention that she gets. Then, there's Owen. Owen is our middle child. Owen does not want to be big. Owen does not want to be the baby. Owen, would like to be little. It causes great stress for him to be described as big. So, if you see him, you can think he's big, but you don't need to tell him. I know he's big, Tara knows he's big, anyone who sees him knows he's big, and if there was ever any doubt....

He's not our baby anymore and he certainly is big. But he's our little Owen. (Okay mushy bit over)

On Homework

I decided to split this post up because they cover very different things.
As Tara (my wife) mentions we are going to some counseling. As someone who often has remarked that counseling would do anyone a lot of good, I had some concerns about going. Mostly on what people would say if I went. That aside - the "homework" we were given for this next session was: list your stress and what you do to cope with it. Sounds simple enough, except when you start. I'm tempted to put down: drink excessively while juggling my children through the air over burning coals. I won't put that down. I guess I'm a little annoyed because it's making me realize how silly some of the things in even my head are (those of you reading this who were on my floor in bible school - stop snickering!). The thing is, I knew/know that many of the things I'm stressed about are silly. I also know that some of the things I do to cope are silly. The big problem is: how to change? I have been describing myself lately as being "as focused as a disco ball", because that's how my attention seems to be going; spinning around the world in a lot of really cool dots that make you kind of zone out, and it doesn't really accomplish much.
I don't want to sound like I'm totally depressed, because I'm not. There are times I'm overwhelmed, but I don't think those are the same things.

But hey what do I know?
Well, I had better start to figure out all the things that stress me out and what I do with them, so I can say I did my homework.
I dare you to try figuring those things out.

On today

Today has been a long day. I should be asleep, but I felt I should make an update here.

Drove into Saskatoon today (about two and half hours), about halfway there we came upon whiteout, horizontal snow blizzard conditions (did you know it's March 14th?), went to a doctor's appointment for Tara, had lunch with a close friend/mentor ministry couple, and then actually caught up with my cousin Chris and chatted with him for about an hour before both of us had to go. Then drove home, all the while still snowing until magically all the snow disappeared about the same place on the highway it started. So, while I drove in snow today, I don't have to shovel anymore off my driveway. Not that I was doing that anyways, I have a big van now, I just "barrel" through."

She's here!

Well, finally (or so it feels) we have an addition to our family! Olivia Joy Robertson came into the world on December 8th 2006 at 7:30am. She was 8 lbs 14 ozs and all in all everything is going well. We all came home on Sunday and she met her big brothers. They think she's the best little sister ever (she brought them a gamecube).
Everything is going well at home except for sleeping.

We feel blessed. May you have as much Peace and Joy in your home this holidays as we do.

Later.

PS: There are more pictures on my Flickr account (link in the sidebar). For family who have access to my other photo gallery there's even more there.

Snow, again.

Snow is super, really it is... (sarcasm doesn't quite work the same in print oh well.)
And still it snows.
It's snowed a lot this week. If anyone would like to send me a snow blower, I'd be grateful. The bigger the better, but beggars can't be choosers.

Oh, and by the way - baby should be coming soon.
I am so looking forward to her arrival. Posts and pictures will follow!!

Something I saw and liked

 

And now for something refreshing...

Given the week(s) we've had, I took the boys to the playground and took this (among other) pictures. I thought I was happy enough to share.

It makes me smile and sometimes even chuckle out loud.

Prayer, division and a van

Sweet Lord, have patience with us. We build walls that divide. We close doors to keep others out. Teach us how to topple the walls stone by stone. Show us how to open the doors and bless all who enter.
-Christopher De Vinck

I have been thinking about this today. I have just come back from vacation and spent my first day back in the office. I have noticed that everything is still here. I am more refreshed than I expected. However, as I reflected on this little prayer today, I realized yet again in my own life how easily it is to be taken off course in our relationship with God.
Why is it that when things are difficult or challenging we so often try to do things on our own? Why are we so slow to understand and remember that if we simply turn to God at the first moment of trouble/temptation/questioning and seek his help things would be so much easier.
These are not "new" thoughts of mine, just the refrain that seems to permeate humanity with regards to following God. We divide ourselves from each other, and from God himself; even though no one likes to be lonely.

Be assured though that God loves us. I am continually amazed at the protection and blessings God brings. We traded our car (94 Chrysler Intrepid) for a used van (1996 GMC Safari). Bought the thing on Friday. Saturday my family and I along with my parents (6 of us including me) jumped in the new (to us) van and drove around. We ended up putting on about 250kms that day. All got home safe and sound. I went out Saturday evening to drop something off and as I was driving home a ball joint let go. (See picture) Had the van less than 24hrs and it breaks. Now, that might not sound at first as a big reason to be thankful; but it didn't let go on the highway. It was on the driver's side front wheel, had it let go at highway speed we would have been forced into oncoming traffic. Aside from that, because we bought the van from a dealer they are replacing both ball joints on the front end of the van for us. Now, I won't have to worry about that with the van.
Now it has been frustrating to not have the van I bought when I bought it, but we're all safe and a few days in the course of (I trust) years of use is not much. Besides, I'm driving my old car for the time being, it's not like I'm walking (although in Tisdale that would be fine too).
God is good. We were not sure if we would be able to get a van in time for our new addition around Christmas (for those not up to date, we are expecting our third in December, we think it will be a girl). A car doesn't hold 3 kid's car seats, and now we have a van.
There is more to say about the van, but I'll leave that to another post (perhaps I'll even tell you all why we will call the van "Earl"). I'll leave you with a parting shot of our beloved Intrepid
a car that we towed our tent trailer across this great country of ours and has seen more than a few kilometers beneath it's rubber; just before I went to trade it in.

Blessings.

Art, Social Justice and the church

Hey, been a little slow in posting on here, as I have not been too sure what to post. I've been reflecting on the church, the arts, social justice and star wars. Not necessarily in that order, nor necessarily at the same time, although that produces some interesting mental images doesn't it?

I'm not sure what to say about any of what I have been thinking about, although I'd be interested in hearing what you all have been thinking about recently.
I have been thinking about what the church could look like. Specifically I've been thinking about what our church could look like. I am pondering what God is calling us to specifically. What ministries, what programs, what people, what teaching, what preaching, what fellowship, what everything. I am excited with what God is doing here, but it's hard to see where God is taking us. I keep reminding myself to relax and do one thing at a time. To keep my priorities straight, to "be". To be a good disciple, to be a good husband, father, pastor, friend. To not get distracted from things (easier said than done for many of us).
I have been praying more these last few weeks then I have in I don't know how long. I have been waiting and trying to soak in the presence of God. I don't know how successful I have been, but that's okay. One step at a time. God is doing something in my head, I'm not sure what it is yet though. I'm a little nervous, a little frightened, a little excited, and very thankful that I'm growing.

I will leave with one picture that I enjoyed taking the other day.

Thoughts...

So it's been a crazy time recently.
Tara (my wife) and I were in Edmonton for General Assembly. I felt like the week was like trying to drink from a fire hydrant on full blast. Overwhelming. One of the themes that kept coming back was social justice. That is, the church being nice to those not in the church and who don't have much. That would be the poor, the marginilized, anyone we don't normally associate with. Another thing that was thought provoking was a thought expressed by one of the pastor's on a panel discussion I attended; he asked the question about what are we doing to bring the person who has never thought of getting out of bed on a Sunday morning into church. Now, this was certainly something I had thought of before, but I am not sure that I connected that thought to what we do on Sunday mornings in church. Actually, now that I reflect on it, I'm not sure what that thought struck my head like a hammer on a gong but it did (ok, maybe God was trying to get my attention).
I purchased a number of cds of different sessions so that I could try and get through it all later. I am not sure I completely know how to process all of this.

In addition to processing Assembly and catching up on life (like my lawn!) Owen (my youngest son) had some tables fall on him in church on Sunday and he broke his leg. A greenstick fracture is what the doctor called it. From what I understand it's not "broken" like we think, but because his bones are still relatively flexible the bone "bent" and didn't break. That leaves a wrinkle (?), at least that's what it looked like (kind of sort of not really) on the x-ray, on the bone. He has a cast now for three weeks.
It's still quite tender and he is not super comfortable but he's a trouper. I wish I could wear it for him.
Also Tuesday, my mother-in-laws car broke down about an hour and a half away from here and we went and towed her home so that we wouldn't have to pay a tow truck. A long, slow afternoon that was. It's all good.
Currently I'm struggling with studying (don't look at the time this was posted...). Mind is going around in circles and I'm getting a little dizzy. Oh, and did I mention IT'S TOO HOT!! Yuck it was hot today.