My Weekend

So I had quite the interesting weekend. It started off with taking Friday afternoon off and hitting up as many garage sales as I could with Niki (got some pretty good finds, including Dumb and Dumber on DVD… so if you want a good copy on VHS let me know) then we got into the car and drove three hours to Jessica Lake Lodge. Niki knew we were going somewhere, but the destination was a surprise, so the drive consisted of me ducking Niki's head down every time we came close to a road sign that might have our destination on it. Along the way Niki completely lost her sense of direction, which made for some really fun conversations. It was a good time and a very nice place. We spent the night relaxing in the hot tub and just relaxing away from work and home. It was a great way to celebrate one year.

On Saturday we left and drove to Winnipeg where were did some shopping and such. And then another interesting thing happened. We were sitting at a stop light minding our own business when what do I see standing on the boulevard? A homeless man with a sign that said, "Can't work. I would rather beg than starve." So I quickly looked away thinking, "Man why does he have to be here? What should I do? What does God require?" The money in my wallet was sitting pretty heavy, and I knew that I had a couple bucks that I could easily to without. So I gave it too him, and told him to buy a sandwich. Now I know that we shouldn't give money to people out begging on the street... or at least that's what I've always been told. And I probably should have offered to buy him a meal instead of just giving him a few bucks. But the thing I kept thinking about was this line from a Derek Webb song that says, "Poverty, it's so hard to see, when it's 20 miles across town." It is so easy to forget all about the poor, until you meet them. And I knew that I had to do something.... it wasn't much but it was a start for me. One other thing stuck out to me about this experience, was looking in my rearview mirror and seeing the look of disgust in the eyes of the lady in the car behind me as I gave the man money. It was so clearly a look that said, "Why are you giving him money to make my city look so trashy?" Maybe I made a mistake... but I'd rather be the naive fool who gives freely than the stuck up prick who wouldn't help the helpless. Another song I was thinking about was The Train Song by Listener. Take a listen, great words and message... even if you’re not a fan of rap... give this song a try.

On Sunday morning Niki and I are sleeping in, enjoying a nice Sunday morning when the phone rings, and Pastor Ben is on the other end sounding very sick.... to make a long story short I end up preaching at a old folks home on 2 hours notice... Thank goodness for Sermon Central I just went in searched grandparents and read someone else’s sermon.... but I learnt a lot about the importance of grandparents... pretty cool. In the evening Niki and I decided that we should return a video game I was borrowing from one of our youth so we got on our bikes and rode across town to the Barkman's. As we approached the house we were like "Oh NO! it's supper time! And it's mothers day." We could see all the cars in the driveway, but we had come this far, so we decided to do what we had come to do. Walking up to the door Niki and I were like, "This is sort of awkward, crashing a mothers day party... Oh well! It's the Barkman's" And are we ever glad we knocked, we were invited in and we got to spend the rest of the evening in some great fellowship.... I think we might just have to crash father's day as well. It was really a great time. So that is pretty much the way my weekend went. Lots of lessons, and lots of laughs. Just the way I like them…. Oh I forgot one thing. After we were at the Barkman’s Niki and I were sitting around, I was playing vids and Niki was cleaning, when our doorbell rang, When I went to answer the person was gone, but there was a Oreo and Smartie flurry at our door, So thanks to our mystery guest… it tasted awesome!