Time To Fly!

After a lot of anticipation, we're finally heading out! After a half-hour drive and a half-hour check in, we're already one hour into our trip.....piece of cake! Yes, Tracey had to stand outside of the men's washroom at YVR and call for Paisley who hand wandered in.....but we wouldn't expect anything else from Paisley!

We're heading out. We're excited, we're a bit nervous about how the next 40 hours will turn out, we're thankful for the people who have supported us to help make this a reality....and the ones who are supporting us with their prayers even now, we're ready to get to Uganda and see what's in store for us as a family!

The best part about blogs are the pictures, I know.....so we'll be sure to start including some over the next few posts.

For those interested...here's our flight schedule:

BRITISH AIRWAYS 31MAY VANCOUVER BC LONDON 835P 140P

BA 84                MONDAY INTL       HEATHROW 01JUN

                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         9:05 DURATION

BRITISH AIRWAYS       01JUN LONDON         JOHANNESBURG   915P    905A

BA 57               TUESDAY HEATHROW       O.R. TAMBO INT         02JUN

                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         10:50 DURATION

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS 02JUN JOHANNESBURG   ENTEBBE        200P    705P

Going to Uganda...the long way!

Well....the good news is we're getting to Uganda in spite of the strike going on with British Airways. The not-so-good news is we will need to fly from London all the way down to South Africa (read: fly right past Uganda) so we can fly back up to Uganda (another 5 hour flight back up). We haven't done the math around how many hours of travel....I don't think we want to.

This will be real fun with kids.

The silver lining is that we're hoping to be able to see our good friends Daryl & Nikki Mulder (and their new little one) for a few hours at the airport in Jo-berg (unless Tracey can convince South Africa Airlines to let us stay in South Africa a few days longer!).

In all seriousness....I'm not complaining....I'm more amused than anything.

It really is all about perspective.

How does one complain about flying halfway around the globe for such an experience? In fact, I think it should be a legal offense in North America to complain about the hardships of travel. If it's so hard....why don't we give the 2.5 billion people who live on $2 a day a chance at it to see how they handle it?

(I really hope I remember this blog post 35 hours into our trip to Uganda! I'm well aware that I'm going to have plenty of time to actually practice what I preach from June 31 - July 2!)

Enough preaching....all this to say: we're heading out on Monday as planned! Appreciate your prayers for continued peace and proper perspective as we leave.

Peace.

Strike Two...

Just 11 days until our departure...maybe.

British Airways has been scrapping with the cabin crew union for a while now, and they were scheduled to go on strike on May 30 (we are supposed to fly out on May 31). Then the British court ruled the union could not strike....then today they over-ruled that ruling....are you getting confused yet?

So....we are waiting until next week to see what will happen to our flights....whether delayed or re-routed....and we'll go from there. This would not be more than an inconvenience if it wasn't for the fact that we have rented our house out on May 31 for two months! So we may have some figuring to do!

We're busy packing the house up....packing bags up...and Tracey is working a lot as she tries to fit in clients prior to our departure. Truth-be-told she is too busy....and if you think about us, you can pray for extra endurance for her over the next 10 days.

That's all for now...

Things To Think Through....

"What does one do on sabbatical?" you might ask...

Apart from some increased kid-time, I've had the chance to read, listen, and learn through the following...

"The Throne, The Lamb, and The Dragon" by Paul Spilsbury. When else would I ever read a book about Revelations but on sabbatical!?! For those of you who want a general overview of the book that also challenges some of the assumptions that Tim LaHaye and the "Left Behind" series have popularized....this is a good read.

"Strengthening The Soul of Your Leadership" by Ruth Haley Barton. This has been my 'reflection' book and I'm asking God to refill my tank as I read through this book that follows the life of Moses.

A Pastor's conference at Regent College that was encouraging thoughtful interaction between science and Christianity. While broad in it's scope...a few of the talks are essential for those of you who are 'closet' Theistic-evolutionists or those of you who are strident creationists!

"The Glory of Preaching" by Darrell Johnson. Those of you who call PPAC your home will be thrilled to know that I finished a book that is meant to improve my preaching (time will tell!)

A Evening Lecture at Regent College by Rod Wilson with the provocative title, "Why is Emotional Intelligence Missing in so Many Christian Communities?" An interesting presentation that briefly addressed the question from the Psychological, Theological, and Neuro-scientific perspectives.

And now I've just started a book entitled, "The Hole in Our Gospel" written by Richard Stearns. Although only 1/4 of the way through it, I'm already thinking it's a must-read for the future team-members who will engage in Short-term missions trips from PPAC. In fact, I suspect by the end of it I will be wishing all PPAC would read this one!

Aren't I a party animal?

Nonetheless it's been both beneficial and insightful for me!

PS. I also got out to Iron Man 2 for some mindless entertainment. Pretty lame from my perspective (as far as action movies go). I'm all for the conflicted/authentic hero genre....but in a movie geared towards Owen's age and up?.....that's the role models they get to grow up with? Bummer for them.

Hoping for something far better this next week with 'Robin Hood'!

Grace & Peace...

Church...a new experience

Today was our first Sunday on sabbatical...our first chance to visit another church as they gather together for their communal worship service.

Being a guest at another church is bit of a strange experience. You certainly view things from a different perspective when you're on the 'outside'. That's one of the benefits of being on sabbatical....seeing things from a different perspective...as well as simply seeing how other churches are living out their faith in the midst of their particular community.

All that equals new insights to take back to PPAC when we re-emerge there.

One bonus for us this Sunday was that the church had planned a free BBQ afterwards....so we got to enjoy some good food after the service! I thought we might phone the rest of the churches we are planning on visiting to see if they are doing something similar and, with some good planning, maybe we won't need to worry about Sunday lunch for the month of May! Shallow, I know....but I'm a sucker for a good burger!!!

Have a refreshing sabbath...