Funerals

I've been to two funerals within a week.

One was Aunt Shelly, from Oak Harbor Washington. She died of liver disease. Long battle with liver trouble that ended just days after our family re-union. We attended her funeral last week Wednesday. It was a celebration of life. Her family was there, friends and church members all came to celebrate her life. She was a mother, grandmother and she leaves behind her husband Frank. Grief and sorrow are all difficult emotions to have. They come in force when a loved one dies.

I noticed this again this morning. This time the funeral was for a 17 year old boy who died tragically. Zac's life was ended -- early. There was an overwhelming sense of grief, deep inconsolable was grief present at the memorial service for Zac. A young vibrant young man who everyone loved and connected deeply with. He was part of the hockey community in Chilliwack and the Bruins and Chilliwack Minor hockey people were present. The large church was near full with young people and friends.

It was an overwhelming time for me of hearing others recount his life and witnessing the emotions of those closest to him as they shared their memories.

I was struck with the legacy that both a grandmother and young man leaves. At the memorial services there was memories and positive stories of the deceased. Lives were touched and changed by their lives. We have that effect on others.

We all leave a legacy. A 17 year old and a 57 year old left a legacy for all to remember. During our time here, we often doubt our impact on this world and other's lives. We ask do our lives really matter? That question get's answered at times like a funeral. The deceased are like a seed that produce a harvest of lessons and life change.

May we not forget -- those we love and that our lives do matter.

Letter to The Chilliwack Progress: Homeless - What Would Jesus Do?

A recent letter to the Chilliwack Progress posed the question, "Homeless: What would Jesus do?" The letter challenged the Chilliwack Ministerial, which I am a part of, to provide additional beds and housing for people who are homeless in Chilliwack.

The need for housing for the growing numbers of Chilliwack street people is frequently being highlighted  in the local press. The thought came to me that since each spring the Chilliwack area churches do a “Love Chilliwack” event – wash cars, provide hot dogs, coffee and a ready smile. I would like to suggest to the Chilliwack Ministerial to grow that smile into beds and housing for our growing number of homeless neighbors.

This is a good point - let's funnel our efforts towards finding solutions to homelessness. The letter cited a recent fund raiser for Ruth and Naomi, a service for people who are living on the streets, as an example of how to help.

Recently,  a Ruth and Naomi fund raising banquet raised $25,000 for start-up money. Much more will be needed. Could I suggest to the area ministers to remind their flock of their obligation to the homeless of their commitment to the teachings of Jesus  to make this a reality.

I'm not sure if $25k was a good amount or what the goal of the fund raiser was. But I think that Ruth and Naomi are doing fantastic work. We need to support them. We need to get involved.

So, flock (including me), let us figure out what our obligations to the homeless are as we learn from the teachings of Jesus.

What can we do Heartland?

Pond Hockey

James has never been in that cold of weather. It was minus 15 and he didn't notice. That is what pond hockey does to you. The smile on his face was so constant that it could have been frozen in place. He got 4 goals, one of them a one timer. He hasn't stopped talking about those 3 hours on a frozen pond with 15 other warm hearted people. Don't get me started about how well our team started to gel. Those passes from Dorthy were tape to tape. Stan was seemed to always be in the right place and Levi was relentless on the forecheck.

If the lake had good ice that year, we would be there every weekend putting on our skates and playing till it would get dark. "The Lake" is where I learned to play. It didn't matter if the skates were 5 sizes to big, or the toes were cold, or the ice was bumpy and covered with snow, it was pure fun. More fun that xbox, wii, ds, psp, or Halo III.

Pond hockey is about the only thing I miss about cold winters. But I do miss it. All ages play together. The older enjoy seeing the younger ones succeed. The younger still have a shot at the NHL, the older know better. Where else do 3 to 60 year olds play together in the same game and no one keeps score? Cookies and hot chocolate just taste better after pond hockey. Everyone smiles and great memories are created.

I wish there were more things that brought all ages of people and families together like pond hockey does.

Decades Coffee Club Conversation

I'm in Decades coffee club using free internet, sipping a bold and nibbling on a bran cranberry muffin. Ron makes the best muffins outside of 8671.

A random conversation with a person sitting two tables over puts my attention on a topic I think of often. The person is articulate, smart and in her early 20's - she used to be involved in church culture, but no longer. Her parents are still in but their daughter isn't. She is paying off school loans, hanging with friends -- doing life -- but chooses not to step into a church building and would rather do something else with her Sunday. In my conversations with people here in Chilliwack, I find this story repeated over and over. Parents raise kids within the church culture. Kid gets old enough to make own choices, heads off to college or full-time work and church culture looses it's value to them. They don't go, anymore. Most likely never to return.

I had the feeling in this conversation that I had a lot to learn. I wanted to ask more questions, I wanted to listen I wanted to know why she was no longer attending church in a building. I could make assumptions and draw resulting conclusions, but I may be way off. Unfortunately, the conversation ended and all I'm left with is questions and no answers, half a cup of bold and a muffin wrapper.

So, what are your thoughts why so many no longer go to church services?

Chilliwack Winter

Folks, welcome to winter in Chilliwack.

Fraser River Flood Watch For Chilliwack

Residents of Chilliwack have been preparing for a possible flood. The snow packs this year are larger than most, and with the arrival of warmer weather, the Fraser river is rising. There is a real time river height monitor that can be found here.


The city of Chilliwack has been working hard to prepare people for the possible flood. The city's web page tells you how to interpret the river height graph. Here is the flood response guide from the city's web site:


More information about the possible flood from the city of Chilliwack can be found here.

Spring Break

There are a few things going on with the VK family now that it is spring break.

Someone said it started raining in October and it hasn't stopped here in Chilliwack. It has been a wet, dark winter for us so we decided to pack up and head for LA! After working on Monday, we'll head out on Tuesday and drive south, searching for the sun. Levi and I have been fixing the dings on the surf boards and we are all getting excited about see our old friends - including the beach and sun.

The Chilliwack Bruins continue their successful inaugural season by making it into the playoffs. It's been an up and down year for them, but they have worked hard and are now going to the dance. It starts next week and they will be facing the Giants. They beat the Kamloops Blazers last night 5-0. And tonight, for the last game of the regular season, they will face the Giants. Should be a little preview of what the playoffs will be like. Then following the game there will be the team's award ceremony.

Ski Trip To Hemlock Valley Resort

Levi's class went skiing yesterday at Hemlock Valley Ski Resort and I took a van full of kids up.

I snowboarded for the first time and the learning curve was steep. There were some pretty entertaining (dangerous) moments, like the time the board slipped out of my hands at the top of a run and it accelerated all the way down to the lift. Or when I got back to the top and I could not stand up on the snowboard and had to walk down. Eventually I sort of caught on and by the end of the day I could do both heal side and toe side turns. With an hour to go I swapped my snowboard in for some ski's and went out on some runs with Levi.

This is Levi's second year snowboarding and even with ski's I had a hard time keeping up with him. He has really caught on to the sport.

It was a fabulous day. The ski was blue, the temperatures were warm and being out of the office and in the mountains was very refreshing. Last week was busy with four speaking engagements and doing some sermon research and sermon planning for February -- I didn't know how much I needed to get away from it. Friday's are my day off, so this was a wonderful gift.

I think Hemlock Valley is one the best kept secrets in the fraser valley. The views are awesome. On the green chair you can seek Mt. Baker and Harrison lake. It's a georgeous resort. The hill is only a 50 minute drive from our house which is closer than Manning and Levi thinks Hemlock is better skiing.

BC Place In Bondage (again)

Looks like BC Place is back in business. It's been a tough month for the Vancouver icon. Workers raised the roof this week on BC's doom.

Looking once again like a plump marshmallow in bondage, the inflatable roof of BC Place is back in place.

Inside, rain was still dripping through drainage holes into pools of standing water on the concrete floor late Friday morning, but general manager Howard Crosley said a gardening and landscape show scheduled to start Tuesday would go ahead as planned.

more here

Extreme Weather Stories

It seems that the amount of extreme weather we and others are experiencing has been on the rise. Here in Chilliwack, it has been gloomy and cold and raining. Maybe I'm sensitive to this weather after living in LA for awhile. But I was talking with a friend this morning who grew up in this area, and even he is feeling the effects of the constant clouds, rain, wind and storms that have hit here this fall and winter.

There has been flooding, toppled trees and dumps of snow. You'd expect all this in a normal winter, but it seems this winter has been especially harsh. Even long standing icons of this area have been hit hard. BC Place has collapsed and Stanley Park has lost thousands of trees to wind storms.

Other bloggers have reported extreme weather too. Jordon blogged about the storm that hit Regina. He called it the worst storm in memory. Even Southern California has to bundle up. Mike tells of the cold weather in Mission Viejo and Mark talks about freezin' his hiney -- although Mark was Yucaipa, which should be cooler than Mission Viejo.

We had a great day on Sunday, however. It was sunny and the temperature was below freezing. All the rain we had filled fields with water and with the freezing temperatures, there were nice ponds to skate on. Reminded me of growing up in Terrace, where we'd often go to the lake to skate and play shinny hockey.

There was plenty of extreme weather in Terrace. Some winters we had to shovel snow off our roof for fear it would collapse from the weight. One winter we had storm after storm and the banks on the side of the house got so high, that we had to shove the snow off the roof up. No kidding.

Anyone else have extreme weather stories?