May 11, 2011
May 10, 2011
A new granddaughter is a wonderful Mother’s Day gift!
Eli was born at 5:51 p.m. and weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs 12 oz and she is lovely.
Nicole spent the day hanging out with Jon in his hospital room on the sixth floor, timing contractions in the comfort of the knowledge that the Birthing Center was just two floors down. Ben and Abi and I dropped by for an afternoon visit and by the time we left at around 3 Nic decided to call in her sister Pam who was her back up labour support given Jon’s limitations.
Once Pam arrived they headed down to get Nic assessed around 4:30. The nurses decided that the baby was still up pretty high and Nic still had a long way to go. They suggested that she do some walking and if nothing happened by 10 she could take a couple of Gravol and get a good nights sleep, so they headed back up to Jon’s room.
Shortly thereafter, Nic’s membranes ruptured and she knew the baby was coming quickly. She got into Jon wheelchair and Pam ran her down to the Birthing Center. By the time the nurse and Pam helped Nic onto the bed, Eli was already crowning . Fortunately Jon was able to commandeer another wheelchair and talked some random guy into running him down and arrived just in time to witness Eli’s birth. Nicole has this mothering thing down to a science.
Eli had some facial bruising as a result of her rather rapid descent past the pubic bone but that is healing nicely. Ben and Abi are delighted that Eli has finely come out to join them. Jon also was discharged home today and all are happy to have there little family together again.
May 6, 2011
My son Jon has had an driving accident just days before the birth of his new child. He is in the hospital recovering and the family would appreciate your prayers. Nicole is trying to manage her own end stage pregnancy and looking after my son. She would appreciate your prayers as well. My wife is trying her best to cope with managing her two grandchildren while all this is going on, and she could do with your prayers. I am over here in Malaysia trying to cope with my own feelings of helplessness and I would appreciate your prayers as well. It is a good thing the Lord is open all night!
May 4, 2011
I had no intention of writing this post. But the reaction from others has impressed upon me the need to clarify a Christian response to the events that took place in Abbottobad, Pakistan over the weekend. I am no theologian, and I do recognize that there is room for a wide range of opinion on this matter. But I am a deeply committed Christian living in a Muslim majority country who daily interacts with young people of all faiths, and I have a perspective on these matters that I do not see in the popular press.
First of all let me say unequivocally that Osama bin Laden is a mass murderer and worthy of death. His life with all its duplicity and carnage should be roundly condemned as abhorrent by all men and women of character, regardless of their faith or political leanings. But lest there be any doubt or charge of bias let me also say that George W. Bush is equally guilty of murder. On little evidence and much prodding by those in his inner cabinet that sought to make financial gain from the misery of others, he unleashed a war on Iraq that was with scant merit or even much chance of gain, and by doing so caused the deaths of thousands of innocent lives. Murder is murder, whether that murder is committed by a Saudi in a turban, or a Texan in a ten gallon hat. When will Mr. Bush be called to account?
Then there are those that see the death of bin Laden as an act of justice. You do injustice to the word by so maligning it to serve your purpose. What was visited upon bin Laden was revenge, and revenge is not justice, no matter who is pleased by the results. Justice would have been capture, not summary execution. To hear the State Department go on the air this morning to “clarify” the report by stating that bin Laden was unarmed only underlines the fault. He should have been apprehended and brought before a court of justice to stand trial for his crimes.
Justice means that he should have had to face the families of the victims of his murderous rage and required to give an account of his actions. He should have been given an opportunity to repent of his murders, and then he should have been given a sentence appropriate to the crimes he committed. If that sentence had been death, then he should have been executed in an appropriate and dispassionate manner.To kill bin Laden as he was gunned down over the weekend may have pleased those in America that were longing for revenge. But they have soiled America’s ideals by demanding it.
Rightly or wrongly, America is seen in much of the world as a Christian nation, and theirs has not been a Christian response. Christ came to bring salvation, not a sword. The only injury done in his name was when Peter cut off ear of the guard who arrested Christ. And what did Jesus do? He stooped down and picked up the severed ear, placed it back on the soldier’s head and healed it. This is the Christ of the Bible, the One who came to heal and forgive, not an unholy jihadist in western armour riding in on a helicopter to wreck vengeance. There are those who glory in such gore, but that is not the faith of our fathers.
Bin Laden is dead and many in the west, including many Christians, rejoice. But bin Laden’s fight will go on as long as the West continues to lead by the sword, instead of by God’s Word. Imagine –fanaticize with me if you will. Suppose bin Laden had been treated to Christian justice. Suppose he had been met with kindness for all his evil, compassion for his crimes and forgiveness for his sins? What if he in prison had been visited by those who truly cared for his eternal soul? What if he had come to see the error of his ways and had given his life to the One True God? What kind of testimony would that have been for Christ?
I will admit that is a little fanciful. But this is not: as long as revenge is called justice in the West, then those in the Middle East will continue to seek for “justice” for their cause. And America has just empowered them to continue to do so. The one who is truly rejoicing in all this is the Devil of desperate evil, not the Christ of the cross.
May 1, 2011
No, this is not another post about Will and Kate, as delightful as that was. This is a post about my daughter, Liz, and her soon-to-be-husband Greg. Yes, my little girl is getting married, and for at least two families this will be the wedding of the year. It is still a couple of months away, August 27th to be precise, but that doesn’t mean that preparations are not fully underway.
Pam has chosen her dress and had it made, although like any sensible husband I am giving her full autonomy to change her mind and choose another before the big day. That is her prerogative. Liz has had her dress chosen for some time now and has been wrestling with the thorny issue of what the bridesmaids are to wear for some weeks. I think that little storm has abated. Not to keep harping on Kate, the new Duchess of Cambridge, but I thought it was most sensible of her to have just one bridesmaid. So much easier to manage!
I am delighted to have received my invitation in the mail this week. I was beginning to think I might have left off the list, LOL! The invitations are just beautiful with a little ribbon holding them together and just a charming picture of Greg and Liz (which I have reproduced here). Pam is home for the birth of Jon and Nic’s third child, but she will stay through to August to help Liz with the preparations. The wedding will be in London, where many of the family are located, while Liz and Greg both live in Calgary. Pam can be very helpful with all that has to be done while she is home.
This is clearly not the optimal arrangement for Pam and I, but the best we can manage in order to continue to be supportive parents for our children as they move into marriage and children. Obviously I would just as soon be home myself, if that was possible. But the reality is that neither of us can manage the cost of airfare home, and my employer will only fly us home once a year. We have to manage our parental responsibilities within that framework. Sometimes that means that I have to stay here and work so Pam can be home.
But distance is nothing in the presence of God. I may be thousands of miles away, but my thoughts and prayers are with the family I love. I am praying that the Lord will make this year a special blessing for all of us.
April 30, 2011
Quick, how do you tell a true Brit from a colonist? By their reaction to the British royal family. The colonist will tell you it is a bit of a lark and think no more of it. The Brit will either be incensed that you mentioned the subject, or will go all wobbly at the knees at the sight of them. I may have been a Canadian citizen for over 50 years, but when the Brits put on their show, I go all wobbly.
And what a show it was; impeccably timed and orchestrated, full of pomp and circumstance, a rich tapestry of visual and audio delights. Who else on earth could stage a ceremony like it? Is there another building on the planet that has crowned their monarchs in continued succession for a thousand years? Is there a more successful monarchy anywhere; one that has survived murder (Edward V), beheading (Charles 1), insurrection (Oliver Cromwell), and abdication (Edward VIII)? They even seemed to have survived the disastrously inept and unfaithful Charles, Prince of Wales (may he never reign).
Oh, like everyone I am a little tired of their pontificating and offensive opinions on matters quite clearly beyond their scope. But every once in a while the monarchy shows its worth, and yesterday was one of those days. Prince William seems to be thankfully much more like his gracious mother than his effeminate and ineffectual father. And Kate, my word, what a ravishing beauty! The pair of them looked like something from a storybook; hardly real.
I was also mightily impressed by the service itself; a tribute to Christ and the church He bought with His blood. The scripture was prominent, the singing angelic, the tone reverent and pleasantly hopeful. With an audience of two billion, some of whom had never heard the word of Christ without a profanity attached to His name, it was a remarkable testimony. I turned off the telly after two hours feeling stirred and elevated. I wish the young couple all the best. They face a mountain of cynicism and contempt in the days and years ahead. May they weather it with the kind of devotion they seemed to find in each other yesterday.
April 30, 2011
I woke up one morning back in 1978 to find out I was allergic to ragweed. Up to that point in my life I had been allergic to nothing. Outside the window of our apartment on Jalna Avenue where we lived following our marriage there was an empty field full of the stuff. We had left the window open to catch the fall breeze and I spent the entire night sneezing my fool head off. By the morning I knew it was something more than the sniffles. Like any sensible fellow I got some antihistamines and went about my day.
Ragweed season lasts about two months in south-western Ontario, and it seemed no particular heartache. But ragweed, I found, was just the beginning. Over the next thirty years the list of things I was allergic to grew; first to airborne allergens, like pollen, then to foods. Some of those foods are pretty central to a western diet: wheat, corn, milk and tomatoes. When you start to look at all the foods that are dependent on just these four things, you get an idea of what I had to give up; not just bread and donuts, but pasta and pizza, cheese and sauces, most of which are tomato based.
Then there all those foods that use maltodextrin and starch, both of which are made from corn. In fact of all the dozens of breakfast cereals out there, only one – Rice Krispies – has neither wheat nor corn in some form. Even potatoes, which I can eat, I can’t eat fried, because they will be cooked in corn oil, which is often simply called vegetable oil. At least here in Asia where the staple food is rice I am better off, but I still have to avoid fried food, as I found that I am also allergic to palm oil and its related products like coconut, which is often cooked into the rice. Most of the time I manage quite well, thank you, and in fact lately I have begun to put on a little weight.
But everyone once in a while I step over the boundaries of my restrictions, as I did two weeks ago. Good friends of ours, Gary and Kveta, took us out for brunch at the Traders Hotel. They wanted to say goodbye to Pam, and treating us to the finest brunch in town seemed like a good idea. Well, the brunch was so spectacular, and the occasion so bright and friendly, that I forgot myself, and ate some things I shouldn’t. The following day our good friend Shelley treated Pam and I to lunch, and once again I was in a situation where to forbear meant giving offense. By Monday I knew I was in desperate trouble.
People who do not suffer from allergies think that it has something to do with what they see on television commercials: you sneeze and your sinuses get clogged. It is nothing like. I would describe it more like getting injected with fire ants into your bloodstream. You become unbearably irritated, anxious, distracted; you feel like your muscles are permanently clenched. I get a headache that starts in my sinuses and goes clear down my nervous system to the base of my spinal cord. Your throat is so raw that to breathe is painful. You feel like you have a horse sitting on your chest.
This time the problem was exacerbated by the air. It is planting season in Indonesia, which means slash and burn agriculture in this part of the world. The smoke billows over the Straits of Malacca and settles over KL for months. People who do not have allergies wear masks. Those of us who do, find their allergies going into hyperdrive. Just to clarify, smoke is not an allergen. An allergen must contain protein; smoke has none. Smoke is an irritant which triggers the allergens in your body. In a similar way it is not the dust I am allergic to, but the dust mites in the dust.
To cut what has been a lengthy story short, the last two weeks have been miserable, and not just because Pam is not here. In fact for her sake I am glad she wasn’t. But yesterday I woke up and the storm was over. The headache and the nervous anxiety were gone. The horse had gone for a walk and I could breathe without pain. However, the past two weeks have not been without redeeming activity. My nervous energy has been translated into a tremendous amount of work, and my classes have benefitted from some excellent lessons. I have also learned some interesting things about my own diet from having to be so very careful. But that is another post. For now I am just happy to feel like myself again.
In researching this post I came across an interesting documentary from BBC on the subject. Catch it at http://documentarystorm.com/health/allergy-planet/
April 27, 2011
It has now been a week since I arrived back in Ontario and I am finally starting to feel like I am over jetlag. We have made good use of the time while waiting for the main event. Staying with Jon and Nic and the kids has been delightful, such a joy to just spend time playing with Ben and Abi, walking to the park, reading stories and tucking them in at night.
The first order of the day was to get wheels and our Canadian phone reactivated so I am mobile and available when labour starts. Over the Easter weekend I was able to catch up with some of the WLA people at the Good Friday service, attend a Passion musical and Sunday morning service at Forward in Cambridge and even get in an egg hunt with the kids.
An assessment by a Physiotherapist on my shoulder confirmed my own diagnosis of a rotator cuff tear and a subsequent tendonitis. It doesn’t make the pain any less but it is good to know that at least the steps I have been taking are appropriate and I have a set of exercise designed to increase the range of motion. Hopefully by next week I will be able to add some exercises that will begin to strengthen the muscles.
April 19, 2011
There is always that question: is home where your husband is or where your kids are? There is no doubt that Malaysia feels like home but we both miss our family terribly and now is the time to do something about that. Headed home in the hopes of arriving there before Nicole goes into labour.
Airport Limo arrived at 6:30 and the Cathay Pacific flight from KL to Hong Kong took off right on schedule for the short, three and a half hour leg of the trip. The only snag was that I needed to find the Air Canada desk in HK to pick up my next boarding pass. The ten minute hike across the airport felt like a nice way to stretch my legs before the fifteen hour flight to Toronto, scheduled to leave in just under two hours.
The nice lady processed my documents without comment and then handed me my boarding pass with a smile. Then she informed me that the flight was delayed almost four hours but not to worry they were able to reschedule the final leg of the trip and I could still catch the last flight to Saskatoon with no problem. As nice as an overnight trip to Saskatoon at the end of this 27 hour trip sounded ( who wouldn’t want to arrive in Saskatoon at 5 a.m) I was not impressed.
After a few phone calls, it was agreed that I was actually travelling to London, however as I was arriving too late for the last flight, I was now scheduled on the 7 a.m. flight on Wednesday morning. Apparently a $9.00 lunch voucher makes up for the added fifteen hours of travel. Fortunately for the internet, I can at least let Jon know about the delay without making a middle of the night phone call. Might as well buy a Chai Latte and relax.
Home Thoughts From Abroad 