church adventures all over the place - and on-line games and family and church

June 9, 2009

So in the afternoon yesterday I went for a walk with my son... and a couple walks by myself. On one of them I was going by Fibonacci's coffee shop, and a guy sitting at a table on the sidewalk cafe there called me over. He knew my name, though I didn't recognize him at all. He asked about Sunday church-in-the-park... and I told him that about a dozen people turned up, and we sat around and ate cookies, and that I enjoyed it. Then he said Pastor P. is back in town... which I had assumed. That young girl was there too, so I said "hi" to her as well. (I had asked Father before I set out, to let the walk be according to His will... Sometimes I wonder about what I'm doing, so that really encouraged me...).

When I was walking with my son, he told me that he thought maybe we should be looking to buy a house in Penticton. He admitted he'd like to stay here, but also said he thinks some of our girls think maybe we are playing favorites by wanting to move to Campbell River. (I have kind of wondered about that myself, but haven't said anything about it).

So on Sunday, as I recorded before, I had mentioned to my husband about if we should pray together about God's will regarding moving, but at that time he didn't say a thing. Last night, after what my son said, I looked through the local Real Estate weekly paper and found a couple possible places here (2 bedrooms, under $200,000). So this morning I mentioned to my husband what our son said, and he said he had never thought of the girls thinking we were playing favorites, but that maybe it is possible. Then right away he just took my hand, and prayed for both of us that Father would show us His will in regards to all this!

Then we had breakfast, and then went on-line and looked at the MLS listings for our city, and found out there are actually quite a lot of possibilities.

Then we went to coffee time. Pastor P. was back from his Ontario ordination, and obviously feeling really quite inspired - and realizing that he needs to focus on the street, which is where God has really called him. Well, I myself had already wondered about all his other "plans/ dreams/ involvements" and I think that he is hearing Your voice, Father. His wife and others have also confirmed this.

Oh! I gave Pastor J. my Rabbits and Elephants book to read!

Anyway, one thing I didn't mention on Sunday (I don't think) was that I saw __ (the native one, in a wheel chair) and offered him a cookie... but he was so battered that he can't even eat. His lips are all swollen and cracked, his face all scraped, and his hands all dry and puffy and cracked and caked. He is skin and bones and his legs are just shaking. And he keeps throwing up clear foamy stuff. I placed my hands on his back and head, and prayed for him. That was quite a breakthrough for me... I can't get him out of my mind... Father, please take care of him, please heal him if it is your will, not just physically, but free him, please, Father, from the bondage of alcohol (Pastor P says that ___ really loves Jesus... oh Papa, please free him from this terrible bondage! thank You!)

And I am also wondering how the guy who had the seizure in the street is doing...

Now, since I read that book, when I go out walking uptown, when I wake up in the morning, when I'm doing my Bible reading, and other time, I find I am praying quite a lot for the people downtown... but also for the businesses, and other aspects of the city.

So at coffee time I told Pastor P. about Sunday and the cookies and the people who gathered and how we sat on the curb, and visited, and that ___ prayed for everyone. He was pretty happy about that. He said, "You know I'm going to tell your story!" Well, I didn't know that (and certainly wasn't even thinking about it) ... but I do think he was encouraged because he has felt alone, perhaps, out there.

Well, he talked to Pastor J, and then he said to the couple ladies who are always there at coffee time,that he wouldn't be very involved in coffee time any more, but he encouraged them to keep it going. He said if ___ (who is the lady who God led to start it) needed food or coffee stuff, to let him know, and she told him she'd try to get church people to bake, but she sounded kind of doubtful - she has a hard time getting anyone to bake for the coffee corner at the church... I'm afraid I rolled my eyes when she said she'd ask the church people (sorry, Lord... that was wrong!). Pastor P did say to try to get others in the church more involved...

Oh, she asked me if I go to the Sunday church-in-the-park, and said she feels like she "should do more," and maybe she could come to that too. I just told her to come and hang out and see what's happening.

Okay, what I really wanted to say, too, was that at coffee time, my husband told everyone what I said about wondering if it is really God's will if we move, and how we should pray together, as in "when 2 or 3 are gathered in My name..." and that we had prayed together this morning... and then he asked everyone there to also pray for us that God would show us His will, so Pastor P prayed right then... and at the end, just as everyone was leaving, hubby asked them again to remember to pray and they said they would. (After he prayed this morning, at home before coffee time, hubby said that right away he had a lot more peace. Yep, me too! Though I can still hardly believe he prayed like that! And then told them at coffee time, too, and asked for their prayers! Wow!

After coffee time, we went to get gas, and on the way home we drove by a couple apartment buildings in our area that have apartments for sale. "I" think it would be awesome to still be in this neighborhood!

I guess we should talk to our children in Campbell River about all this. Father, please prepare their hearts - and ours - for YOUR will! Thank You!

(I keep thinking about what I could do in the way of a little home-based business...to make a few dollars... this is more and more on my mind... but Father, is it from Your Spirit... or is it "just me"?? Please show me Your will, Father! In Jesus' name!)

Oh yes, Pastor P is having "typical teens" struggles at home with his 5 teens! Please be with him and his wife and family, Father. Please give them wisdom and Your love and care. And please be with his wife and her mom who is slowly dying (And her dad too, and her sister). Thank You, Father!

And please bless the couple who are getting married!

.... later... (Having gone for yet another walkabout, made lunch, started typing my notes from "The Rabbits and The Elephants"...)

This morning when I was walking with my son, he was telling me about when he used to play this on-line video game with a bunch of other people,and how it started as this little group of maybe 8 people that was really like a family (there were even a couple who were in their 40s that everyone referred to as the group parents!) and everybody had a good time, really got to know each other, worked together on the game... gradually more people joined in, but it still
worked well till there was about 15. Then it built up to 25 and started to be a bit awkward, people started dividing into sub-groups to chat (the officers group, the newbies with low skill levels, the people with high skill levels, the people in the middle...) and they started to complain about each other, especially the newcomers who didn't get invited to the "raids" very often... and to begin with, people had played for fun, but gradually it became more and more competitive, and a couple of the officers developed these big dreams of becoming the best group on the server (there were like 30,000 people playing in groups on this server, and their group made it up to #6!)... but to accomplish this they couldn't let the less skillful people go on the raids because that would decrease their success level... and finally (after the group got up to 35 or 50 people, many who didn't know or like each other... and some there for the social life, others to play for fun, others to play to win: so even their goals/ purposes/ dreams were different) it got to the point where the whole group blew apart, instead of having divided up into smaller groups way earlier on, which could have the family-type atmosphere of the original group.

I was really interested in this story, because it sure reminded me of the same kind of things happening in all kinds of situations - clubs, teams, organizations, busineses, classrooms, study groups... and yes, churches. The family size group is truly the building-block of society, and when things like this happen, the family/ relational dynamic breaks down, and all kinds of problems develop.