The Cranks and Clogs of a Reimer Mind

Alex

2009-02-01T23:47:00.000-08:00

So I'm back swinging a hammer again three days a week when I'm not taking classes. What may be surprising to a number of people is that I love it. I love working with sinners who need to see, feel, and hear God's love for them. I've been working for Thomas Bradley Construction for near three years now and the relationships that this job has brought to me are precious. Isn't that always how it is though with a job? It's the relationships that makes it.

I want to tell you a little bit about Alex. Alex is my age, and he has been working in carpentry full time since getting out of highschool. Alex is good at what he does. He is efficient yet knows when it is necissary to be particular. Alex has shown more patience with me than I deserve from him. He reminds me way too often that I need to put glue down before the sheet of plywood, or that I am about to put the sheet down upside-down. I love Alex. When Alex was younger he called himself a Christian. Now he considers himself an Atheist. It's his prerogative to live like Hell. It's easier when you don't believe it exists. My heart goes out to Alex. He needs to truly encounter the Living God. I pray that every day I work with him he encounters a little bit of the Living God in me. What a high calling I have! That God would choose me for such an incredible opportunity.

Lord, give me strength and boldness by your Spirit to open my mouth and speak of your love, your grace, your forgivenss and the joy of knowing YOU. Fill my heart with love even when I don't want to love. Thank you for using me for your glorious work. Amen.

Wedding Photo Booth

2008-12-30T11:41:00.000-08:00

If anyone wants to access and download pictures from our wedding reception photo booth, please send me an email or leave me a comment and I will forward you the site and the password :)

Love you all.

Mr. Reimer

Married to THE Woman I Love

2008-12-30T09:45:00.000-08:00

On December 19, 2008, God blessed me forever with this amazing woman, the love of my life. I wrote about how Charisa and I met etc. in my previous post (over half a year ago!) and now we are finally married. My wife (then fiancee) and mother-in-law and our families had worked tirelessly to make that day beautiful and meaningful and they really did succeed in every way. One of the most precious highlights of the wedding was our nephew Noah who walked down the aisle as our ring bearer. There was a lot of skepticism as to whether or not he would actually do it on the wedding day as he just reached 18 months! That little man could not have walked more perfectly than he did... I think he was even walking according to the tempo of the song :) It was absolutely adorable. And then came my Bride. I don't know if there will ever be a moment that will parallel that one again in my life. What an overwhelming experience of stepping into the unknown. No one ever told me that getting married was an enormous step of faith. It has been that for me and I know for Charisa as well. What an adventure we are on already.
I am writing this from our honeymoon location in Tuwanek on the Sunshine Coast where it has been wonderfully wintery at our little cabin. No one ever told me that the honeymoon is an adventure too. Relationship is such a beautiful thing. Over and over these two weeks we have both been struck with the thought, "Wow! God really loves us!"
Here are two of the beautiful wedding pictures that we had taken at Deer Lake Park. Charisa was wishing for snow for our wedding day... God provided an overabundance.

Oven-Mitts? Really!

2008-07-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

I am living in a bachelor pad. Make no mistake we are primitive creatures, us men. Now since moving in at the Berry house for the summer I have been confronted on several different occasions by the fact that there are no oven-mitts in our kitchen. This usually results in a frantic search for a tea-towel (which are also in short supply in our kitchen) whilst my precious nachos (the diet of a true church-working bachelor) start to turn just a little too crispy. Yesterday I solved this dilemma forever.
Glancing into the oven I saw, to my delight, that the cheese was bubbling wonderfully! In my jubilation I forgot momentarily the oven-mitt dilemma. But in my exuberant haste I improvised (if I may say so) brilliantly. In a matter of seconds my T-shirt was off of my body and in my hand. I confidently opened the oven door, grabbed hold of my prize and removed if from that hazardous inferno before my cheese began to burn and my chips turned brown. In the blink of an eye my T-shirt was back on my body and I was eating nachos! Now at first I didn't realize the implications of my discovery, but as I neared the end of my feasting and my mind made room for other thoughts, (thoughts that were not those of the euphoric stimulation that is mine through the medium of cheesy nachos) it began to dawn on me: This spells the end of Oven-Mitts! Long live the bachelor's 'T'.

~As I was writing this I have been observing my room-mate's uncanny ability to read with his eyes shut! If only I had such ability, but alas. Maybe he's an alien?

much love and smiles,

Stewie

I'm Pleased to Announce...

2008-05-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

It is most definitely time that I updated the people I love on just a tiny bit of the goings on of the last couple of months. Her name is Charisa and I met her in January. After going to the same church our entire lives we met by the grace and providence of God this year. After three months of rather deliberate getting to know eachother we found our passions and interests quite compatible and found we were falling in love. Aside from my school work and volunteering in youthgroup I spent every moment I had getting to know this woman. In the very early stages of our relationship we realistically had to decide if it was worth getting to know eachother in the relatively short amount of time before she left to go overseas for an entire year. We both decided the other was too good to pass up so we went for it and gave it everything we had! We still are and God has been leading us along all the while. I've spent much time in prayer and in fasting that God's will will be done and that ours would follow after his. We have both been very affirmed that this is indeed someone we can serve God next to with all our hearts for all our days... and did I mention that we are in love?
While Charisa was still here we tried to squeeze in as much adventure and romance together as we possibly could. On the list of things we did were (guys get a pen out): a picnic at Lighthouse park one beautiful afternoon listening to the waves, a day-trip to Whistler, sea kayaking down the Nicomekl River to Crescent beach for a stirfry on the beach watching the sun set, hiking in UBC Research Forest in Maple Ridge and a mountaintop picnic, spending lots of time together with our respective families, a day trip to Seattle with her brother and sister-in-law, a romantic walk down Jericho beach dancing on the pier in a light rain with a chocolate mocha and eachother to keep us warm, multiple walks at Crescent Beach (her favourite place in the world), tandem biking around Stanley park with her family, a relaxing sunday afternoon stroll at Iona Beach... the list goes on but I know James is yawning : ) and so, as the story goes, we fell quite into love and embraced eachother as the faceless, nameless man and woman we've been waiting for forever with great anticipation.
On May 1st of 2008 I took Charisa on an epic date. We both dressed up real nice and started at Queen Elizabeth Park where her dad took some beautiful pictures of us (some of which I will post at the end of the blog). We then had tea at the Secret Garden Teahouse followed by a lovely time at Jericho beach where I read her an original work of mine on Prov 31. We then had a five course dinner cooked at a family friend's house in a wonderfully intimate setting and great service. Following that we went to Crescent beach where a quiet candle-lit, chai latte, chocolate dipped strawberry laden setting awaited us. We sat and talked and I told Charisa what she meant to me and why I desired to marry her. Then i asked her to be my wife. The best part was... she said yes : ) I gave her a beautiful ring and we are planning to get married next summer when she gets home from her travels.

May God bless you all richly through his son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
Much love,
S-dubble-rubble

Annabaptists Meeting Muslims

2008-01-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

Recently I had the absolute pleasure of sitting in a lecture by David Shenk who is an Annabaptist from Pennsylvania working for the Mennonite Central Committee in the muslim nations of the world. David has been a pioneer for the greater part of his life of the Christian faith into closed muslim countries. The only reason that he has been able to do this is because he is truly living out the love of Jesus Christ, even for Muslim people. In a day and age where 'Christians' are doing an excellent job of earning the hatred of Muslims the world over, David Shenk has been approaching any and every Muslim to dialogue about their faith and his. Here is one scenario from Shane Claiborne that will hopefully illustrate the how we're earning this hatred. Shane had flown to Baghdad from America to be there when the Americans bombed the city. He said that as he walked down the halls of an over-crowded hospital in the ensuing chaos he heard one little girl repeating over and over again as she lay on a hospital bed, "What did I do to America?" Unfortunately, in times like these, America still bears the title of a 'Christian' nation and now terrorists in the Middle East have been given excellent material for propaganda against, not only Americans but Christians.

The amount of misinformation in the Muslim world regarding what Christians stand for and believe is incredible says David. And I think that this misinformation goes the other way as well. When terrorists bombed the Twin Towers muslims became demonized and misunderstood in our society. We sit back and make assumptions about what Muslims do and don't believe never for a moment thinking to ask a muslim.

So David's ministry is talking theology with muslims in closed countries over tea. One of the major reasons that he is able to do this is because he comes from the Anabaptist tradition. David said that he loves to remind his Muslim counterparts that Anabaptists did not fight in the Crusades, and in fact they were burned at the stake for refusing. It seems that the non-violent, apolitical anabaptists are seen as weak and utterly unthreatening to Muslim people. In conjunction with this they are also very attractive solely because of Jesus' love manifest in their good deeds. David is using this reputation in the Muslim community to share the good news of the gospel even with the most militant of Muslim leaders, and they are listening! He told the story of how after a cease-fire had been reached in the Caucus region he asked a few of the church leaders from the church up on the hill where he might find the muslim leaders of the people that they had just been fighting with. They told him where the Muslims gathered to pray and worship and he invited them to come with him to talk with them. They laughed at him and refused so he started off alone across 'no-man's-land' and seeing his boldness they scurried after him. They went and talked with the Muslim teachers at the building for three hours over a lot of tea and a lot of cookies. By the end of a conversation that revolved around Jesus, they called each other friends and parted ways. He is a fearless, non-violent, lover of muslims and he is changing the face of Christianity in the muslim world.
David Shenk is proof that the MCC's activity in the world has opened doors in Muslim nations because of Love manifested in good deeds! One extraordinarily practical thing that David really challenged me with was to go out and make muslim friends. Learn from them, love them, talk to them and rest assured Jesus will end up being the topic of conversation.

PS. I also bought his book called 'Annabapitsts Meeting Muslims' which any of you can borrow from me if you're interested in what God is doing amongst Muslim peoples these days.

Extremists for Love

2008-01-12T10:24:00.000-08:00

Well, I just finished a book that was quite challenging. It's a book that is written for those of us who are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, who stand forgiven and are called to walk in the light but instead have comfortably fallen asleep in the coziness of a salvation that we will cash in when we die. It's written for people who are frustrated and bored with the Christianity that they've been a part of for their entire lives. Shane Claiborne reminded me that this Christian life we live is the most challenging and exciting and rewarding thing that we could possibly be a part of on earth. He challenges us to be extremists for love, like Jesus. He challenges us to exercise our faith with actions that are based in love, mercy, and grace. He challenges us to seek first the Kingdom of God, not any other kingdom.
I will save you the time reading the book and tell you instead to read the bible (especially if you haven't already) and obey what it says. If you have read the bible and really want to read some other inspiring stories about people who are doing just that then by all means read 'The Irresistible Revolution'. Don't read it if you want a lesson in theology... cause it is not that. It is not Shane Claiborne's theology, if it was it would be vastly incomplete, however it is a reminder and a challenge.
So after a vibrant discussion with Rebecca, and James at Christmas time I will say that I may have liked this book because I'm a peace-loving, Anabaptist. I think though that Shane makes a very strong case for loving our enemies and Jesus teachings about things like turning the other cheek and being persecuted because of righteousness.
This is an observation that I doubt is new but I will lend it anyways. In a world where nobody in world politics (or even world history) has ever led their country in loving their enemies and turning the other cheek, I think that it is time that we follow after our Kingdom's leader and follow his example in this very thing. I think that it is because of this very reason that the Kingdom of God has exploded since Jesus made a mockery of violent, inhumane treatment of people by dying on the cross out of love for all the sinners of the world, including the very people who killed him. His immediate followers were willing to do the same because they saw the power and transformation that occured when a righteous man died at the hands of unrighteous men. The apostle James is a beautiful testimony to this. "James, (along with his brother, John) was one of Jesus' cousins, a bit of a zealot. As they were walking through Samaria one day, some Samaritans were giving them a hard time, so James offered to help Jesus take care of them by calling down "fire from heaven" on the Samaritans. I'm not sure exactly what that meant back then, but Jesus was not happy and rebuked him. The story of Jesus' life continued, and James watched Jesus love of people and then die. So eventually James faced his own execution for having followed the one who loved his enemies to death. He was imprisoned and was set to be executed. Before his execution, he spoke to his executioner about God's love and grace. The executioner was so deeply moved that he asked for forgiveness and surrendered his life to Christ. James forgave him and they embraced. Then he and the executioner were killed together" (that's the way Shane tells the story). He also tells the story about Dirk Willems, a famous Anabaptist martyr of the 1500's who escaped prison before his execution but was pursued on foot across the frozen fields of Holland. One of the guards hot on his heels fell through the ice and Dirk stopped turned around, dove in and rescued the man. He was burned at the stake regardless of the pleas of the guard.
These stories go on and on, each one as powerful as the last. Some from the early church, some from the Christian church in Iraq. They are beautiful testaments to the fact that violence begetts more violence and that LOVE is the greatest power in the world today. That is how I want to live.

S-Doggy

Road Trip to J-Tree

2007-11-19T17:04:00.000-08:00

Working at construction is generally good work. Work hard, accomplish lots, come home tired and get stronger every day. Today was a day where nobody really did much, it rained a lot, I did a lot of standing around (not by choice I assure you), and it was about zero degrees all day... and did I mention it was raining... and Monday. Brian just flat out quit at about 11:00 and went home. It was definitely one of those days.
Anyways, my semester is now over... I know it was short but I still did about 15 credits of course work. As instructed by our program director some of my class mates and I took a week and a half and went on a road trip to Joshua Tree National park in southern California right next to Palm Springs. We camped there in the park and climbed the vicious J-tree rock for 9 days. It was amazing. The desert is so beautiful. It produced for us beautiful sunsets and sunny days every day that we were there. For those of you who know a little bit about rock climbing it was the first time that I had ever lead-climbed on Traditional Protection (cams and nuts). It was both challenging and exhilarating and I loved every minute of it.
This trip was also fantastic because of the deeper sense of community that was developed and fostered in our Outdoor Leadership class. I think we looked a lot more like the church at the end of the week than we did at the beginning and it was awesome. I had been praying that God would use this time of us being together to allow us to go deeper and he totally did. The Holy Spirit was there and bringing his unity, fruit, gifts and wisdom. One night we went and slept out in the middle of the desert in this natural amphitheater that we had found. We bought a bag of tea lights and placed them all around the rocks giving the ring a beautiful almost romantic atmosphere. We then proceeded to fall asleep under the dark, moonless, shooting star-filled desert sky and it was awesome. On a different night we shared communion together and it was a beautiful time of remembrance of our Lord. It was however rudely interrupted by a huge, and rather bold rat that crawled over Alle and I while we were praying!!! It was rather exciting.
So I am home for a while now and I'm working for Thomas Bradley Construction trying to afford my next semester of school. However that is secondary to my latest endeavour to become a youth sponsor at Willingdon's youth group. I'm really looking forward to investing in the lives of young people again in that way.
I hope you all are well. I'll leave you with some pictures of our climbing trip.

The crystals in the granite at J-Tree are really big and therefore really sharp and therefore much of our blood was spilled at Joshua Tree.

Lacing up for a 5.9 overhanging roof route that put me on top of the rock outcrop just in time to build my anchor for Alle and watch the sun set as I belayed him to the top.

Here's daddy Boodt reading Redwall to Robert and Stewart as they fell asleep in his lap :)

This is me on top of a 5.3 route called 'Ski-track' actually it might have been my first traditional multi pitch send with Sheldon called 'Mike's Book'... I got a sweet compliment on my killer floral spandex shorts from some guys from Colorado :) you can't really see them in this one but you will.

Sheldon and I on top of 'Mike's Book'

Here I am belaying Alle up a 5.8 route... for the keen observer I am using a Munter Hitch as a belay device.

Here is Elena and myself on top of Headstone Rock. This rock sat about fifty feet off the ground on top of a boulder pile and was very much visible from our campsite and therefore a desirable objective for us. I had the first ascent from our group on the most exhilarating and exposed 5.6 I have ever climbed in my life!

Here is a beauty shot of my floral spandex... don't worry folks I would only ever bring such atrocious clothing on a rock climbing trip very far from home. And I definitely wore them every day. On a side note, spandex are the ultimate climbing attire providing the climber with an unbeatable range of motion.

Here's Robert owning the 5.8 on Headstone. This one was also very exposed but a lot of fun. When I was climbing the center route on this rock I left a blood trail all the way up cause I tore my finger one one of the moves at the beginning.

This was me just finishing up our group's first ascent on a 5.10b called 'Poodles are People Too'. This climb was the hardest climb that I have every finished in my entire life and I did it on Trad Lead. It was such a beautiful finger crack/face climb and 100ft long too.

This is how rock climbers get strong... coiling ropes.

Here's Elena Kangas soaking up the sun with a beautiful Yucca tree in the background. Yucca trees earned the name Joshua trees because when the Mormons were passing through the desert they thought that the trees looked like when Joshua held up his arms until the Israelites won their battle.

Another testament of the destructive power of Joshua tree rock. After our day of bouldering I think that every one of had at least several bloody patches on our bodies.

This is Sheldon, Matt and I on our first day climbing.

My mom says this was a Cana Lily... I didn't like that I had to ask her but I did. It is breath-taking.

Sheldon and I trying to find the 'Dairy Queen' Wall.

Banff Mountain Film Festival Quality

2007-10-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well I'll let you decide for yourselves as to the quality but at least it was fun to make. This is if nothing less a little insight into what school has been like for the last little while. Check it out:

Mountaineering With Stew and Shelly

PS. I apologize for its length...

Of Ice, Rock and Man

2007-10-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our Mountaineering Course in the Whistler Backcountry. I hope you are blown away.

There's got to be at least one of these pictures on every trip.
This is our glacier camp on the Diavolo Glacier between Cheakamus Mtn. and Fitsimmons Mtn. The picture was taken from the site of our water source which was glacial run-off trickling down a rocky outcrop just on the other side of the burgschrundt.
This was one group's descent to the Diavolo Camp.
This is my group balancing on a six inch ice ridge with a steep snow slope on this side of us and a vertical drop into the bergschrundt on the other.
This is Tim's group taking the cul route between Fitsimmons Mtn. and Benvolio Mtn. Notice the huge ice fall to their right... one of the many dangers of the mountains.
This is Joel Barret ("big sexy") looking good for the camera (as usual). He couldn't have picked a better backdrop.
This was my group's lunch spot... WOW. (that's me in the green jacket)
This is our camp at Russet Lake. The morning after we got about 10 cm of new snow.
This is the night before as it was snowing.
This was our ascent of Whirlwind Mtn. off of Overlord Glacier.
I forced Joel to take this picture of my favourite alpine flower, the Fireweed.
This is Brent ice climbing out of a crevasse.
Check out the sweet crevasse field behind me.
Me scoping out Mt. Overlord the day that we bagged it.
This is what I would consider a gnarly crevasse. A massive crevasse field on the Overlord Glacier with the beautiful Spearhead Range behind.
Tricky navigation.

Epic.

Finally!

2007-09-24T17:01:00.000-07:00

Well it took an illness that has me bedridden to get me to blog again... I guess there's an upside to everything eh? I suppose I will start with the Ancient news and then work my way to the recent stuff. Forgive me for the length.
So last some of you heard I had just come back from a missions trip to Utah. Well merely one week after that I was headed to Oakland Airport to pick up my beautiful girlfriend, Brittany Wiebe, who was arriving on a free flight that the Ponder family from Mountain View had incredibly generously donated to our cause. We had an absolutely marvelous time exploring San Fransisco, spending sunday at MVCC (an amazing experience of it's own), eating Mexican food, getting to know James and Alyssa, floating down the King's River, and relaxing at the Berry's model home beach-house just out side of Pismo Beach. It was probably one of, if not THE best week(s) of my life.
So Brittany went home and soon enough my life-changing summer at MVCC was coming to a close. Through it all I experienced the Holy Spirit giving me a love and a passion for his church and to see the Bride of Christ reach it's potential as the ambassador to the Hope of the world. I experienced the Holy Spirit pouring out his gifts into my life and giving me the strength to live in holiness. I experienced the call placed on my life to enter into a life of ministry in God's kingdom. This is truly an exciting time in my life.
In my last week in California my parents and Maisie came down for a visit. We had a great time together enjoying the hospitality of the Leonard family. Unfortunately my parents left before sunday but Maisie got to experience MVCC in full force which was awesome for her. She really got to witness the church's passion for prayer and for lost people. Sunday night I spent with two of my closest friends from Cali, James and Alyssa, as well as two sisters from our youth group and their parents. We had a great time saying our goodbyes and having one last fun time together. As we left James, Alyssa, Maisie and I had a phenomenal time of prayer for one another and then said goodbye... I think as I drove past them with my window open I gave a little, "goodbye my looooooove..." to James. Little did I know that they had planned a surprise party for me at my house and so they followed me home I walked through the door to at least twenty of my friends screaming "surprise!" So I ended up staying awake a little longer than I would have liked to on the night before driving for 21 hours but what can you do. Before I went to sleep they all gathered around me, laid hands on me and prayed blessings over me.
When I woke up I grabbed all my stuff and headed out to the car where to my surprise almost everyone who had been there last night had slept over on the front lawn of my house to say a final goodbye in the morning. They had all written beautiful things in a notebook for me and gave it to me as I left. It was a very emotional time and it was really neat to see how God had used me in those people's lives this summer. I was very touched and encouraged as I drove back to Canada.
I didn't drive home however, I drove straight to Osooyos where my family was camping with all of our friends from church. I had a ton of fun with them and I was again very encouraged by my conversations with some of my parents friends (who I guess are my friends as well) and some friends who I haven't been in touch with for a very long time, especially Andy Unger. I was really stoked to hear what God has been doing in his life these days and to see the way that it is changing him. I hopefully will get a chance to hang out with him sometime this week but we'll see I suppose.
When I got home I jumped into the construction scene again to make some quick cash. I worked for two weeks and was extremely blessed by the generosity of my foreman and my boss.
Then School started. My first eight days of school were spent in Squamish B.C. taking an course in rock climbing through Canada West Mountain School. After two days off we headed out for another eight days with CWMS, this time mountaineering in the Whistler back country, Spearhead range. These courses were quite exciting, quite educational and very inspiring. I will hopefully post some pictures of these adventures once my friends post their pictures on facebook. Some highlights of these two weeks include leading my first ever rock climb using traditional protection (basically I'm placing my own nuts and cams in the rock as protection if I fall), doing two multi-pitch routes on the 'Apron' of the Stawamus Chief, navigating crevasse fields in white out conditions, bagging Overlord Mtn in the Spearhead range and giving an OL "HuooAhh" at the top, and learning to ice climb!!! Basically it's been sweet.
In great juxtaposition, this week was spent first of all being sick like a dog, and then working my hiney off for four days to be able to afford... well life, I guess.
Through it all God has been good and I am still falling deeper in love with him. I also have made a friend on my jobsite! His name is Mike, he's 19 and his family used to go to church. We can all pray for Mike that the Holy Spirit would bring him into the fold :) I know he wants to.
On the more spiritual side of things, I've been trying challenge myself and the Outdoor 'Leadership' class to step up to the plate in spiritual leadership on campus. There is enough people on campus leading in the wrong direction, (yup even at bible school it's the same old scene) we need people who will walk the talk, live by the power of the Holy Spirit every second of every day, encourage and pray with the people in their daily path etc. We need people walking around looking like Jesus... and I don't mean first century jewish style, but on second thought that wouldn't be a bad thing, I mean at least first century Jews devoutly studied the scripture! God's word is Truth, Jesus is the Truth, Jesus is the Word made Flesh, so how can we look like Jesus if we don't know the word? if we don't know the Truth? It's not a lie when you sing, "read your bible, pray every day, and you'll grow, grow, grow."

Peace and God bless. I love you all.

Stew

Salt Lake City: LDS Capital of the World

2007-07-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

For the past two weeks I've been in Salt Lake City, Utah. Our team's trip was fantastic. We were a big encouragement to the church plant that we were working with and we were able to run a pretty sweet VBS while we were there. We also learned a lot about the Mormon faith and some of us were able to have some very interesting coversations with mormon people about what they believe. I had four LDS (Latter Day Saints) kids in my VBS group, three from the same family and their mom followed my group around all day to the different stations! It certainly enouraged me to speak boldly and love her kids with the love of Jesus. In the end I think everyone of my kids had a lot of fun. One of my kids' names was Ian. He was a perticular treasure coming complete with ADD and ADHD. Any form of sugar would just set him bouncing off the walls, hitting other kids, kicking other kids, running at me while I wasn't looking and head butting me in the stomach. One day I actually pinned him face down on the ground with his legs and arms behind his back so that he would stop going insane while we were singing songs! But it was this same Ian that the Holy Spirit was working in all week long. On thursday the story of Jesus was shared with the kids. That night I wrote this poem:

Vacation Bible School

The rain fell softly.
Ian smothers me
His biggest hug yet
Starting the morning right
Our crew makes sundaes
Snack comes later, but you wouldn't know
Neither did Ian
Laughter rules communication
Love and second chances meets
Attention Deficit Disorder
Snack time sugar high
Chaos ensues
Ian leads the charge
My energy is spent
But my hope is in the Lord
And so I dance
Ian on my shoulders
He sings for the first time
Our God is an awesome God
The Spirit softly fell.
I wept for his soul
Smiled at his beautiful face
Remarkably he stops squirming
A whispered conversation
Jesus come into my heart today
Be my best friend
Thank you for dying for all my sins
So I can be with you in heaven forever
He turns and hugs me
Ten seconds later I release a grinning Ian
So excited to tell mom
Three hugs before Ian left
And the Rain softly fell.

Well I am home now, and safe. Thank you to all of you who took the time to pray for my team and I. I love you all.

Stewie

From The Orange State

2007-06-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

Well Folks, say your farewells to yours truly because summer is coming to Fresno. It's supposed to be a balmy 99 degrees today so that's about 36 real degrees and it's not supposed to be any less than 34 degrees for about the next 10 days. Last year there was about two weeks of sustained 43 degree heat... basically at 3:00 in the morning it is still about 37 degrees outside. I'm doing fine with the heat so far but it is unreal how much water you have to drink in order to function like a normal person out there! Yesterday I drank about 3 litres of water about 2 hours before going to bed and I woke up and barely had to pee at all. It's rediculous. Oh and our air conditioning is broken currently so basically I have a shower and go to bed wet with my fan on so that I can fall asleep. Good times in Fresno California.
I'm going to give a little relational wisdom so the wise should probably stop reading now: When you first start dating a girl don't move away for three months unless you can, or are willing to learn how to communicate well. Communicating well can seem like a chore sometimes... you know keeping up all those highschool contacts, trying to stay on top of what everyone is doing with their lives, trying to encourage everyone (facebook only adds to this load because it brings sooo many people back into your life. You now have contact with them and therefore there's a certain amount of expectation to maintain that contact). Brittany makes communication exciting. I know that I have very few ways to be involved in her life from here but if she can come home and be encouraged and smile because of something I have written for her it makes it all worth while.
So I "preached" on thursday night to about thirty highschool kids. It was awesome, I loved it. I got to tell them about Joshua and how he radically obeyed God's commands and how God gave him success in everything he did because of it. Bible school definitely came in handy when preparing for that (thank you Ken Esau). I think that I was able to hold their attention simply with the story of Joshua and it's lessons. I hope that those who did pay attention saw that the Bible is exciting and very applicable. Next week I'm "preaching" on Josiah and his reforms. I'm really looking forward to it. I love the Old Testament, there are so many awesome stories in it.
So Fred and his family are gone now so I basically have their house to myself for the rest of June. I'm responsible to mow their lawn and keep everything watered etc. It's a pretty big task because their yard is beautiful and therefore if it isn't when they get back it's basically my fault... luckily they have automated sprinklers that pretty much water everything for me.
Oh if anyone wants to make a donation i'm still collecting for my "bring Brittany to California" fund. Every little bit counts :)
I've been doing a lot more reading lately which is soo good. I don't think that I've read anything but my bible and text books for the last two years. I forgot how much I love to read. I've got a couple of books on leadership that I'm plugging through for my internship and they are really cool so far. Very inspiring. Inspiring... kind of like perspiring which is definitely what I'm doing right now as I write. Must be time to go jump in the pool.
I love you all. (maise, this was just for you :) happy birthday little sister) (oh and happy birthday to Kira too!)

Stewie

From Fresno With Love

2007-06-07T22:05:00.000-07:00

Well it has definitely been too long. Apologies to you my friends. So Pentecost came and went last sunday and it was awesome. I don't think that I've ever fully read or studied the 14th chapter of I Corinthians but it was certainly exciting to do so. It is the chapter about the gifts of tongues and prophecy and their use to build up the believer and the church. If you've never read it I encourage you to... and then I'd encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to give you those gifts. They are so cool and soo helpful in the church body. Come Holy Spirit inspire your children to seek after the gifts that you promised to give them.
Well God is good. God has been providing for me in every way while I've been in California. I have a place to stay, I have more than enough food to eat, I have gas in my car, I have new friends here, I even had someone pay almost $400 to fix my car after it developed some issues on the way down! Praise the Lord for he is my provider.
So apparently sports are a pretty big deal here in the USA. I went to Roxanna's graduation ceremony with the Leonards yesterday and it was enormous. It was held in a perfectly manicured, weedless, highschool football stadium and then moved over to the perfectly manicured, weedless, highschool baseball diamond for picture taking time!!! These are common sights in and around the Clovis area. They take their sports very seriously. If you are going to be on the Varsity team for any sport you are pretty much guaranteed that you'll be practicing all summer long five days a week!!! Isn't that insane? It's like everyone worships different sports gods and they basically sacrifice their adolescent lives to them. If you don't play any sport then you're kind of an outcast. Some of the guys in our youth group played on the highschool basketball team that won the Southern California State basketball tournament and they got gem studded rings the likes of which I've never seen before in my life! The Ring is so big it can have their full name written on it readibly!!! It is honestly rediculous and slightly laughable but it makes more sense why they clean up in the olympics now.
Tonight at youth group one of the guys who come early to skateboard dislocated his knee (kinda Ashleigh Hau style but worse), broke his patella, seperated one of the tendons in his knee and fractured the top of either his tibia or fibia. It was crazy and I was the first one their on the scene. At first he was screaming and then he calmed right down (I think his body was in total shock although he didn't look or sound like it) until the abulance showed up and then he started lookin in pretty rough shape. Basically it was one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen. where his knee cap was supposed to be was concave and there were some seriously out of place projections all over the place. The funniest thing was that he had a red pen in the pocket of the same leg that the knee was messed up and it had let red ink all over the place so it totally looked like it was a compound fracture even though it wasn't. What are the chances of that eh? Hopefully we'll get to go visit him soon and pray for him.
One of the things coming up that we're doing is a missions trip to Utah from July 2-14 where we're gonna partner with three Mountain View Church plants there to run vacation Bible schools for a couple of weeks. We'll be presenting ourselves to be used by God to reach mormon people in the Mormon capital of the world. If any of you are interested in hearing more about this or have a desire to pray for us while we're there or want to support us financially as we go, let me know with an email and I will hook you up with an email giving you a bit more information on how you can effectively take part in this mission.
I can't explain to you my excitement about the growth I've experienced in my prayer life while I've been here. This week even, I got to take a course on prayer led by Esther Leonard (who is amazing by the way). I never knew there was so much the Bible had to say on the topic of prayer. It was so good. I am going to hopefully become a prayer usher at church but you have to fill out a fairly extensive interview form before you are allowed to. One of the best things that we talked about and I was reminded of our highschool days, was prayers of Blessing. Next time you have some free time allow the Holy Spirit to give you words of blessing and encouragement for a specific person. Then go and give that blessing to them in the most sincere and heartfelt way that you can muster and see if you are both not encouraged by it.
Wow I've ranted long enough. Side note: Ray Harms-Wiebe has been staying in the room next to mine for the week... he's a very cool man and also Brittany's uncle! Random enough?

much love,

Stewie... thanks mr. kiers

Why is the Holy Spirit Scary?

2007-05-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

So last night I heard about 16 gunshots not too too far off from my back yard. I think that is the first time in my life that I have heard a gun fired before. I'm pretty sure that it wasn't a late night pheasant hunter either... I hope nobody died. Along the same vein, a guy in our youth group's brother got shot yesterday. He'll live but the upshot of it was that the kid gave his life to Jesus! Praise the Lord. America is stupid about guns I'll leave it at that. (Dave if you're reading this feel free to correct me cause I realize I'm speaking from a life time of naivity and three weeks of experience in one of the rougher cities of the country)
So this sunday's sermon is going to be about being filled/baptized with the Holy Spirit. Why does this thought make my stomach weird? Why does the Holy Spirit sometimes make me uncomfortable? I want to invite the Holy Spirit into my life like never before. I want to speak in the tongues of angels. I want to wave the white flag in surrender of my life to the Holy Spirit. I am so excited for this.
Mountain View has been going through 10 days of prayer coming up to Pentecost sunday. Each day the prayer room is themed differently and today was all about healing. It was a time to pray for healing in our lives and the lives of our friends and people who have walked away from the Lord. We got to pray for the healing of the nations in the world who struggle with all sorts of diseases. There was one station that commented how in North America with our advances in medicine and technology, we are giving ourselves less and less areas in our lives to trust God for the miraculous. The opportunity was given to directly ask God to work miracles in our lives and to pray for the requests for miracles from other people. It was awesome.
One of the things that I'm really excited to be able to do here is lead a small bible study with six guys from the youth group. I get to buy them all starbucks and then read the word of God with them, help them discern what God is saying to them through his word, help them to apply God's word directly into their lives and then pray and praise with them and for them. Two of my guys enjoy such hobbies as blowing stuff up and shooting things, one of them wants to go into ministry, one of them desires to learn how to pray and all of them are willing to give God two hours of their Saturday night to get into his word. I love it.
Tonight we have a prayer concert led by the Recovery program here at MVCC. I think it'll be fantastic. They all have been so far. Love your churches ladies and gentlemen, pray for them and give to them generously of your time, money and energy. Make it your church and pray the Holy Spirit comes like a rushing wind.
I love you my brothers and sisters.

S-dub

From The Golden State

2007-05-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

So today I played basket ball... attempted to play basket ball with some of the kids in our highschool group today... outside... in 32 degree heat... it was rough. Milk would have definitely been a baad choice. One thing I'm learning here in the amazing USA is that sports are a little bigger here than where we're all from. You should see some of the highschools around the clovis area where I live. Their stadiums and playing fields outstrip virtually all of the big UNIVERSITIES at home. I'm talking a high school with a football stadium, multiple swimming pools, a full sized track, two enormous tennis court areas, soccer fields, baseball diamonds and practice fields for all sports, enormous acreages for agricultural experimentation, livestock grazing areas and greenhouses for botany. American high school's oughta be wearing one of those scrolling text belts that say, "I'm kind of a big deal". They care so much about their athletic programs it's laughable. Pastor Fred's son Josiah is in 8 year old T-ball and he's one of the few kids who doesn't attend batting tutorials, own baseball cleats, wear batting gloves, or have parents who have real hopes that their child will play in the Major League. He's the best on the team by the way :)
Another thing I'm learning here is that some American people feel the need to talk nothing but trash about my country... but it's really only the few. It's funny though cause usually the conversations usually come back to the fact that America is an arrogant bully of a nation and my country embraces humility and quietly asserts itself on the global scene without grovelling for attention like our noisy neighbors. I'm doing my best to enlighten as many people as possible about our amazing country. I tell them about the fact that Canada has a far greater guns:people ratio wilst maintaining a staggeringly lower number of deaths from guns. Not one week ago a dude shot two of his friends at Fresno State University in a disagreement over a PS2 game. He killed one of them! I can honestly say I do not feel it is a violation of my rights and freedoms not to be allowed to own a weapon that's sole purpose is for the fast elimination of human life.
Fresno is an interesting place... there is a lot of gang activity in the city... not where I live don't worry. It isn't supposed to rain for the entire time that I am here... I don't know if that excites me. Apparently it is a city surrounded by mountains... but you really wouldn't know it because you can't see any of them due to the smog drifting up from LA and the dirty south. Every night you can watch the sun set and the smog kinda gives it a pretty colour :) Everyone drinks a lot of bottled water here... just a lot of water period which is right up my alley. Fresno also has a fairly high mormon population. It is so wonderful here at night because it is actually a bearable temperature outside and you can walk forever without even thinking about being cold.
Fresno is also the home of Mountain View Community Church which makes Fresno a city bathed in prayer. I love this church and their passion for prayer. Catch the vision people, prayer is effective but first you have to do it. I love you all.

S-dub

California... Beautiful

2007-05-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm here. After sleeping for roughly five hours horribly I got in my car and was off. After a little bit of interragation at the border and a bit of prayer I was into the great USA. Due to the fact that I have no stereo in my car I had to be creative in the ways in which I kept myself awake for 18 hours of driving. There are a number of things that contributed directly to my success. For the first two hours it was singing to myself, then that got old and I switched to drinking a lot of Coke. After this I started into the large array of nuts my mother had furnished me with: peanuts, almonds and spitz. Every time I'd feel a little droopy I'd throw back a handful of spitz and I'd be good for another half hour. I had a little nap somewhere in Oregon and that gave me just enough to make it to Fresno. I rolled in around 10:45 or so and was shown my house for the summer.
It is amazing people. I have a pool in my back yard! and a hot tub and a full on basketball court that has lights for night-time use! There is the most beautiful bbq I have ever seen as well. It is sweet. The guy who owns the place is Matt and he is a very cool guy. His hobby is his fish tank which sits 2'x3'x6' in his living room. It is a salt water fish tank complete with coral and amazing fish and plants of all kinds. I live with four other guys (including Matt) and in terms of seating room in the home theatre, there's room for us and three guests... all of which would have reclining Lazy-Boy couches. Complete with 20' vaulted ceilings, this house is pretty much amazing. Anyway enough about that.
The Church is fantastic so far. The worship is all out, the people come from all walks of life and all walks of life are welcomed and accepted. We had a great church anniversary bbq and some great fellowship. I'm sure I'll have much more to say about the church a little later.
Unfortunately on the trip down my car developed a sweet little noise which was diagnosed today at Rusty's automotive repairs... all I can say about that is that Fred is a bit of a bully when it comes to taking care of me and my costs :) A bully in the best way possible.
Today it was sunny and 30 degrees... only getting hotter. People don't even use air conditioning in this kind of weather! I'm a little scared I'll be honest. But then I remember that Fred has a pool and I have a pool and I'm not as concerned.
Much love from California.
S-doggy

A Little Something

2007-04-14T20:06:00.000-07:00

Time just flies. I have finished all my classes and all my exams will be done on wednesday. Our Outdoor Leadership class leaves on the 28th for the Olympic Coast of Washington where we will spend six days being evaluated on all of our guiding skills in real scenarios. This is going to be both a lot of fun and a lot of pressure. I hope I can just stay relaxed and show 'em what I've got.
This summer I will be in Fresno California for about three months (until about August 12) pursuing an internship in Senior Ministry at Mountain View Community Church. The pastor their is a friend of my Dad's from Bible school and he called and asked me to come work with them. I don't quite know what to expect from this but I hope that God shapes me as I serve in this place. If you remember, pray for me this summer cause I'm sure it won't be the easiest thing I've ever done. I still don't really know how I'm going to afford my car and food down there but God's good at providing for his Kids and he knows just what I need. I hope that I'll see most of you in August.
I have made a lot of good friends here at CBC. It's going to be rough to say goodbye to some of them for good. At least we got year books... that was a pleasant surprise.

One thing that has kind of rocked the Outdoor Leadership Program here at CBC is the death of Kim Manchip who was a second year student here. She had a job in the kitchen of a HeliSki lodge north of Smithers where she was able to fill any empty seat on the chopper when they were going out. Her party was hit by an enormous 4.0 avalanche which buried their entire group except the guide. They were able to rescue three of the five that were buried and Kim was not one of them. The crown line of the avalanche was 480 meters across and a meter deep (it was enormous, large enough to completely bury a greyhound bus). Kim was the girlfriend of one of my friends, James Bronson and a beloved friend of many in our tightly knit program and school community. It was amazing to see the response of such a community to a tragedy like that. It was beautiful. What an amazing celebration of life.
One thing Kim's life/death taught me is not to take for granted the amazing things and people in my life. Love everyone you encounter, that's what she did. She was the kind of person who looked into your eyes when you talked to her and genuinely cared about everything you said. We'll miss you Kim.

love you all.
Stew

Oh and I have no idea what's wrong with my blog... if you want to send me comments my email is stewreimer@shaw.ca

The East Side

2007-03-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

There was a particular incident on our Urban Mission Adventure weekend that I will never forget. On one of our Urban Plunges I headed out with two others and we didn’t have to go far before we bumped into Chance, Lena and Mike. They were hanging around outside the front door of a porno theatre. When we walked past them I asked how they were doing and Lena, without hesitating replied, “Pretty shitty.” This caught my attention and I stopped. No one ever says that where I come from. If you asked someone how they are doing in my Christian high school or at Willingdon Church (my home church) or on CBC’s campus, they will say almost without fail and with equally as little hesitation, “Good.” Lena was being honest. She was just about to be called in to ‘perform’ inside the building and she was hungry. “Pretty shitty,” hardly does that justice.
We offered to go and get her some food because she had told us that she couldn’t leave to come with us and while we were at it we extended the same offer to Chance and Mike who were also hungry. Chance walked with us to Subway and then McDonalds regaling us with tales of knife fights and dirty cops but then finally asking us why we were out walking around on the East Side of Vancouver. We told him that we were a group from Columbia Bible College on an Urban Mission Adventure. He thought that was pretty cool.
When we returned we had food for the three of them but now there was a fourth. Her name was Carrie and she was then feeling the effects of Heroin. Despite this we got to know Carrie who had just come out as the performer previous to Lena and we were able to care for a few of her needs. We gave her a sweater to keep her warm and told her that she was beautiful. We brought her to the basement of the Ivanhoe where we got her some food and ate with her for a while before she took off back to the streets. She gave the three of us big hugs and even before she had gone we were crying. We held each other and cried in each other’s arms until, emotionally exhausted, we went to bed.
The honesty and openness of people on the streets about their needs and situation was so refreshing. Lena’s words were a huge challenge to me to never again answer someone’s, “How are you Stewart?” with a quick and misleading, “Good,” just to get them off my back. The reality of their every day life situation was truly sobering. Meeting two beautiful women entrapped in sex trade work gives you an entirely new perspective on the word prostitution. Especially after Julie had come to us and shared the story of the immoral woman and how Jesus had treated her in the presence of the Pharisees. When Carrie left us I could not help thinking that we had not even been able to forgive her sins as Jesus had done and yet we were sending her right back out onto the street with a little more food, one warmer layer, some kind words and hopefully the knowledge that someone loves her. It was a powerful experience because for all that we had done, it felt like we had done nothing.
If I was to have the opportunity to walk through this scenario again I would have talked to Chance and Carrie more about Jesus Christ. I know that our actions spoke deeply of the love of Jesus, but I wish that I had even spoken his name. We let them know we were Christians but we didn’t speak of Christ, instead I think we tried to be Christ to them when in reality they were Christ to us. Maybe we did what was better by living out Christ through our actions, but something inside of me struggles to say that that was good enough. We all agreed to pray for the four people that we were able to interact with, in fact we prayed for them together the next evening. I still pray for them, that the Holy Spirit would begin working in their lives and that our interaction with them would draw them towards Christ and the amazing love that he has for them.
I have also come to value the blessing of the body of Christ. I think that homeless people sometimes give a better representation of what the body of Christ looks like than we do. They take care of each other, watch each other’s backs, fellowship together, generally act pleasantly to one another and know each other and each other’s needs very well. That night it was very good to be with two of my sisters in Christ and know that you could be strengthening one another through prayer if you weren’t directly involved in conversation. It was our uncommon and unusual acting out of faith that assured me of the presence of the Holy Spirit in us and for our protection.
I think that is really important for a church to be in fellowship and communion with one another, sharing each other’s burdens and knowing one another’s needs so that we can better know how we can care for each other and pray for one another. In big churches this is much harder and is generally achieved on a smaller community scale like bible study groups or something. I think, however, that in any body of believers, especially in the city where fast paced life trains us to cover over our hurts and pains and keep going, it is extremely important to support one another in this way. If we are not caring for each other properly or effectively, than what kind of audacity would drive us to think that we can go out and help others first? I had a look at the Hare Krishna idea of community and I believe that they have a few pointers that we could emulate. They have feasts where their whole congregation shows up to party together and have a good time in each other’s presence. Their building is always open for fellowship and worship which encourages people to actually use the place to meet regularly. I think that we need to remember what community looks like and start to function as a body, not merely a few limbs scattered about with no real focus.

SDVR

PS. If interested see article at: http://www.columbiabc.edu/?action=d7_article_display&Join_ID=144890&template=stories_articles.htm7

The Opressive Spirit of Lethargy

2007-03-15T11:33:00.000-07:00

I ran a half marathon yesterday. I woke up at 6:00 in the morning and ran 24Km for Outdoor Leadership training. I finished first in my class but I thought I could have gone harder... I hate that feeling. I was so happy to finish it though, it was truly a challenge. You know the next day is going to suck when you are painfully sore before even finishing your run. I woke up this morning feeling like a truck drove over me, stopped and backed over me again. Now I've got to get my but in gear and start doing school again. Papers are coming due, trips need to be planned, tests and exams need to be written and in the midst of it all relationships need to be upheld. In the words of my good friend James: Yorbel!
I performed in the CBC talent show last night. Reminiscient of grade 8 with James, Adam and Luke, myself and three others performed "The Four Yorkshiremen" by Monty Python. It went well and we had the place in stitches with almost every line. There were some classic acts in this show where someone who genuinely believed that they were truly talented (probably because of the lies of their mother) got up the courage to stand in front of a packed out chapel and honestly pour out their talent before us. In such situations what can you do but cheer wildly and further feed their misguided notion that they truly possess a masterful talent? And so as might have been the best or worst thing that could have been done, the worst act won CBC's talent show and were congratulated with Kudos for Life from the Student Council.
Sweet deal.
To share my excitement and for your artificial introduction to my girlfriend here is a random Brittany fact:
She is an incredibly talented, grade 10 (via the Royal Conservatory of Music) cellist (definition: one who plays the cello). She recently agreed to some "free-style" cello with a local christian hip-hop artist during his performances. The astute Stewartologist will draw the completely random connection between this story and a hidden passion for the Chrisitan hip-hop scene.

Caving: The Baptism of Darkness

2007-03-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

New Mexico was fantastic. When we left beautiful Abbotsford B.C. it was snowing. It snowed all the way through Washington where we made the first of two stops at Krispy Kreme and bloated ourselves on the deepfried crown of America causing me to resolve never to eat more than one Krispy Kreme doughnut again. The light was one so we got a free doughnut each and there was a very tall, skinny, professional, middle-aged, doughnut man running the till. He thought that there was no better job in the world than being the manager of a Krispy Kreme. I could tell from his proud stature... but maybe he was just American.
The Next state was Oregon where it snowed and then Idaho where it continued snowing and even escalated through the high mountain passes. We hit northern Utah where it continued to snow until we got to just north of Moab. Finally we drove into clear and sunny New Mexico and we drove all the way to the very south of New Mexico to Carlsbad. Noteable stops included a couple of Super-Walmarts, Moab (sliprock), and Roswell. Arriving in Carlsbad around 11:00 (41 hours after leaving Abbotsford), we rolled out our sleeping bags and mats in Michael Queen's backyard. This guy Mike, is a bonafide bachelor geologist and at 60 some-odd years of age he is still keen to be cave-guiding a bunch of super-fit OL'ers in the high deserts of NM. After a word of warning about the anthill housing ants that bite fiercer than any wasps you've ever experienced, we settled in for a surprisingly cool, desert sleep under a vast sky of starlight.
Awaking for our first day of caving we were greeted by a clear sky, strong wind and blazing sun (wind chill kept it about 15-20 degrees for most of the days of the trip but sometimes it was much cooler). Off we went to McKittrick Hill where we strolled through inhospitable desert terrain peppered with at least 5 varieties of cacti (including the infamous Lechugea) and many types of thorn covered shrubs. After hopping 2 barbed wire fences we were pumped to go underground and see what all the fuss is about. I had the pleasure of caving all week with Andrea, Lori and Elena who were in fact the only women along on the trip. Over the course of our adventuring, they became known as Stewie's Angels... thanks to Jared. We took a sweet picture, Angel's style.
We spent most of our caving time the first day tromping around looking for the opening of Little Sand cave. After not finding it, we endured a half hour geology lesson from Mike before some other group who was occupying Endless Cave left and we were able to get underground for a very disappointing 15 minutes. This day could have been a disaster but for the heroism of Chris Dyck our fearful leader who after hearing of our plight at the end of the day, took us (while the rest of the group waited in the bus) to Endless Cave. While he's undoing the lock on the cave gate, he looks at us who are eagerly waiting and says, "Mike is a geologist, I'm a caver. Lets go caving." And we did. We ran through that cave as delicately as a caver might stoping to admire certain points until we came to a wall in the cave with a pile of rubble at the bottom of it where Chris stopped. He says, "this is where having a guide pays off" and begins to pull away the rubble from the bottom of the wall revealing a passage-way about the size around of the average person's hips. We squeeze through thinking to ourselves how cool this is, even as though we had been plunked into some Hardy Boys adventure or something similar.
That room was called the WarClub room and it was one of the most pristine and beautiful rooms we saw all week. There were ponds in the room you didn't even know existed until you blew on the surface of the water to create ripples, that's how clear they were. Words cannot express the beauty and wonder of an underground stone metropolis. The roof laden with the most delicate stalactites, the floor wet as it grows in flowstone formations. The room was "living", "growing" stone and it was remarkable.
The day had been redeemed. The rest of caving was an equal or greater adventure for which I will share some highlights for lack of time:
-4X4'ing in the Guadaloupe Range sitting in the box of our beautiful rental Dodge 1500, going through the "dragon's teeth" to get to the beginning of our hike to Gunsight and Sentinel Caves. We were aided on this hike by a "steplog" (ie. 235 steps at 70 degrees) from which we navigated across barren but beautiful wilderness ridges, harrassed by hurricane force winds under beautiful sunlight to find our caves.
-Laughing at Lincoln National "Forest" in new Mexico where you really had to be on your toes to see the trees.
-Discovering the bigger half of Hidden Cave and running around in it's enormity, so giddy that I couldn't even focus on one thing long enough to take a picture because there was so much for my eyes to take in.
-Strolling through the "tourist cave" of Carlsbad and dragging my jaw along on the floor in front of me the whole time.
-Posing with Jared in Carlsbad cave... for the caving calendar :)
-Hearing all the dirt on Chris Dyck from his best friend who was on the trip as a guide.
-Eating at In 'n Out Burgers in California on the way home
-Hitting 9 states on our sweet road-trip
-Not dying when a wheel fell off the bus on the way home (thank you God). Getting a 120 MPH car ride with a California Highway Patrol trooper who told us to put on our seatbelts cause he'd been known to speed and then getting to stay in a Motel in California with a pool and palm trees for 24 hours while the bus was fixed.
-Eating 13 Krispy Kreme doughnuts to best Rob Lewis' record from the previous trip... not cool.
-Coming home with a tan after an amazing adventure exploring one of the final frontiers on earth that man has not fully discovered.

pictures will follow... sometime.

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while, you guys deserve better.

love you all.

PS. in case it wasn't made clear in my "Irony" post... her name is Brittany and she rocks.

See "Irony" Below

2007-03-13T11:11:00.001-07:00

For the Love of all that is good and pure on this earth!

2007-02-17T19:12:00.000-08:00

Spring break is near... I can feel it in the air. I am taking a course over spring break... it is a caving and speleology course in NEW MEXICO. It's a requirement for my program but it is also a week in NEW MEXICO. So good. We are going to be entering some monster caves down there... seeing caverns lined with winged rodents and guano. Actually the caving in new mexico is supposedly world class. Decorated with magnificent... decorations. Here is a picture of possibly the most spectacular caving formation I have ever seen:

It's called "The Clansman" and it's deep within Slaughter Canyon Caves. It is also the freakiest thing I think I could imagine seeing underground... too bad we didn't get permits to visit Slaughter Canyon :(

We get to do some serious rappels into 300 foot pits... and then ascend out of them. You can't relieve yourself in a cave... you have to bring a 'pee bottle' and a 'burrito'? So gross but whatever right. All for the good of the fragile ecosystem that we have need of exploring. Midterms next week folks. Lovin it.

stew

Irony

2007-02-01T22:01:00.000-08:00

I write this to you in the heat of a battle. It's a battle that often makes me question why i'm fighting. So about two weeks ago a couple of female friends of mine approached my room mate and myself with a proposal to begin a "prank-war" between us. Here I will digress: who does that? What's the point of formally proposing a prank war? Don't you want to use the element of surprise to strike first? This still mystifies me to this day. Sheldon and I confidently accepted their proposal counting on our God-given testosterone driven competitiveness to give us the upper hand in this war.
The very night of this proposal Sheldon and I were getting ready for bed around 11:30 when we heard a snowball hit the window in the living room of our apartment... They couldn't think this was a prank could they? But it persisted. Four snowballs later it was 12:00 and I was fast asleep in order to be well rested for our OL cardio workout at 6:30 the next morning. Sheldon and I decided it might be fun to return the favor in a slightly more dramatic fashion. So we woke up at 5:45 and unleashed a volley of twenty snowballs at their 6x4 window... then we did it two more times for a total of 60 snow balls in volleys of 20 intermittantly over the next 2 hours. They told us at breakfast that they woke up the first time thinking that they were being bombed... I don't know what kind of movies they were watching to draw that kind of conclusion but apparently the whole left wing of women's dorms was woken up.

So it went, on and on and escalating. Some failures, many successes. The highlights would have arriving back from a four day Avalanche Skills Course, smelly and tired and walking into my and Sheldon's doormroom to the sight of absolutely nothing. They took everything that we owned. I didn't even have a towel or deoderant or soap or anything. No sheets to sleep on, no pillow, no blanket. Kudos to them for that one. They however, made the fatal mistake of coming back to the scene of the crime that very night to "laugh at us". So we kidnapped Julianne and after much struggle and talk of torture we negotiated to get some towels and a blanket and some deoderant. In return we Saran-wrapped Julianne to an obscure tree on campus and left her there for them to find.
Several days later we breached the impenitrable walls of the girls dormitory in a 3:00 AM raid to get our clothes back... we left them some uneasy poetic evidence of our presence there in the wee hours of the morning. Then again one evening while they were out, we Saran-wrapped all of Brittany's possessions into a three foot diameter ball which we kindly left in her closet. Fun times all around... but I think a prank war with a male enemy would be more hair-raising and... 'creative'.

I await the opportunity for our finale.

(*dynamics of this "battle" have changed since it's beginning, seeing as both sides of combatants are now involved in relationships... with eachother. lol)

Fruit Loops

2007-01-31T16:17:00.000-08:00

So much love in a box of Fruit Loops.
My grand parents used to always arrange for a box of Fruit Loops to be sitting in their cupboard for when our family came to visit. It was one of many highlights of our trips to Calgary. You see my mother, being the prudent soul that she is, refrained from ever purchasing said cereal unless we were camping (a twice annual occurance in our household). This made Fruit Loops a perticular treat to me and my sisters... even to this day. However, one day my grandmother made the unfortunately wise decision to put an end to the sugar cereal escapade (although I believe it has several times attempted a come-back) for the promotion of health in her grandkids.
Which brings me to my current situation where in my cbc dorm room cupboard I have sitting a Jumbo box of Kellogs Fruit Loops and a jug (yes a jug, not a bag) of milk in the fridge. This was a special gift from my loving elder sister to me and my roomie Sheldon, her "brothers". I love my sister. She is amazing. Every now and again she makes her cameo appearances on campus and comes to let me give her a big hug. It makes my day.

Shalom

2007-01-15T21:20:00.000-08:00

Just finished my first class of Genesis. One comment stood out to me... I thought I ought to share it.

John McRae was speaking about the Holy of Holies in the ancient Jewish temple and how it was all about communication with God. Once a year, one man was allowed to enter into the Holy of Holies to have communication with God between the wings of the Cherabim. It was a big deal. A man had the opportunity to speak to God, to hear from God and to spend time in communion with God. Jesus came to break down the barrier to the Holy of Holies. He came to dwell among us so that we can seek his face all the time. We have this opportunity every day... but the superbowl is on, the car needs to be fixed, papers need to be written, reading needs to be done, people need to be entertained.

What would the Israelites think about our treatment of such a priviledged position? What does God think? Those were the questions in my head... I guess now the task is to incorperate the answers into my life.

Spend some time on your knees today in communion with the God of the Universe. I love you all.

S-dub

It's Clear We Don't Know Who We're Dealin With Here...

2007-01-11T14:08:00.000-08:00

I am so far quite enjoying my semester... maybe that's because classes just started yesterday? No, it's been great so far.
In Old Testament Survey today, Ken Esau was talking about the average Christian's view of scripture and frankly how pathetic it is. Here we have the God-Breathed Bible in every one of our houses and we can't be bothered to pick it up, never mind love it and devote ourselves to its study and reading! I was really struck by that.
He told a story of a mormon Doctor that he had known in Alberta and, despite being a very busy doctor, how he used to teach the old testament to grade 11 kids before their school started every weekday morning! When he investigated a little more he discovered that in grade 9 they study "The Pearl of Great Price" and in Grade 10 they studied the New Testament, in grade 11 the Old Testament and in Grade 12 The book of Mormon... every day before school! How popular a program do you think that would be in your home church? Then Ken told us about the Muslim treatment of the Koran and how they refuse to even place another book or item on top of the Koran so as to prevent its disrespect. And how in order to become a "pastor" in the Muslim tradition you must have the ENTIRE Koran memorized! How do we demonstrated our love and respect and devotion to the Holy Scriptures?... I seem to remember that in highschool our bibles didn't warrant all that much respect judging by the amount of doodling and/or duct-tape that covered the majority of them... Maybe we just need to make more durable bibles? Looking back on Bible class all I can think was what a wasted opportunity that was. I mean here we were presented with the opportunity to learn and study God's word and because it was cool to care-less, that's what most (if not all) of us did.
So then Ken was talking about his kid's sunday school class and how little emphasis there was on the bible. It is all about how much fun we can let kids/teens have in a church so that they want to come back... but the thing is they are not coming back for more teaching of the Scripture, they are coming back for more entertainment! Our entire culture is built around entertainment now, it is really all we have time for, and slowly and very sadly that has been incorperated into the church as well. God taking second place to entertainment. In our Christian lives it seems that we need to have a good time with our friends or relax in front of the TV in order to complete a "good" day. But how is that Christian at all? Why are we not memorizing the bible in our spare time so that we can grow in our understanding of who God is and how he is working out his wonderful plan in our lives and to deepen the beautiful relationship that he wants with each of us if only we would give him the TIME of day!

Well, those are some of the thoughts rolling around in my head today. I hope they change my life for the better. I hope I look more like Jesus today.

Filled With Joy

2007-01-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love the Creation imagery that this song uses. It verbalizes my inmost feeling when I am in nature. It almost makes me want to weep in awe of my Creator. I hope you enjoy it also. Oh yeah and someone tried to tell me that this was a Christmas song... to prevent their own embarrassment they shall remain nameless :)

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee,
Op’ning to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee,
Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee,
Center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain
Call us to rejoice in Thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living,
Ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father,
Christ our Brother,
All who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other,
Lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus,
Which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us,
Brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward,
Victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward
In the triumph song of life.

Eager Expectation

2007-01-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

Oh sweet glory. Well I'm back on campus and life is good... minus Carly Dyck who left us for YWAM, but I forgive her. A bunch of us went for dinner with her tonight to send her off. It was fun and sad... all at once. My room only has three guys in it this semester which is kinda nice... although Jason did provide some essential elements to our dorm... like a table and a toaster. Oh well, we'll make due. I'm pretty excited for this semester. I have a few tougher courses including Old Testament Survey which is apparently the hardest course the college offers and my dad's cousin teaches it... I think I'm in for at least a challenge. Outdoor leadership looks to be exciting too. We start the semester with our Avalanche Skills Training Level 1 course in which we are introduced to hazard management regarding avalanches. We end the course with a four day trip in the Cerise Creek area north of Pemberton which should be awesome. We also get to do a winter skills/ski traverse of Garibaldi Lake a little later in the semester. I'm pretty excited for that... I've never been on a frozen lake before! I know, pretty lame, but it ends this semester! We end off the year with our Guiding and Operating Skills Exam, affectionately called the GOOSE. It is an exam in which we plan and guide the Olympic Peninsula trip we did at the beginning of the year, with real clients and we get graded on our performance. I'm really excited for it... but pretty nervous too. I've already met several new students and hopefully given them a warm? welcome. Well friends, I miss you already. Take care of yourselves out in the mean world. Live as if Jesus was coming back tomorrow. Much love to you all.

S-dub.

Mud Pies in the Slum

2006-12-31T13:16:00.000-08:00

This sunday I was perticularly struck by this quote of C.S. Lewis' book The Weight of Glory delivered in a sermon on Hebrews 11: 13-16:

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Too often I feel like that ignorant child in the way that I choose to spend my very short time on this earth. Too often I see myself in pursuing a little bit of what Moses gave up in Hebrews 11:24-25 instead of living my life in light of the gospel and looking aheaed to my reward. Far too easily pleased indeed.

sigh Christmas

2006-12-27T00:06:00.000-08:00

Gotta love it. Mario Kart, Starcraft, good food, no worries, lots of love, lavished affections, cherished friends and more good food. Today it was cheese day. Every Christmas my mom takes the opportunity to buy special cheeses and today we got to dig in. Jalepenjo Havarti, Smoked Gouda, Brie, and a mozzerella-capicollo roll complete with an assortment of crackers and smoked salmon. So good.
I got to spend some quality time today with John Kimmer as well. We had dinner for about 2 hours together! It was great food and great conversation followed by mints! We then went to my house where we sipped cappuccinos and I spanked John at Mario Kart 64 :)... alright he spanked me, but I kept it close. The thing about playing Mario Kart against John is you have to put up with all of the smack-talk. I discovered though that if you can get him going with his mouth sometimes he won't notice the little black bomb heading towards him on the horizon. Oh boy. What a wiener but boy do I love him.
Well, I must be off now to the land of unicorns, minataurs and turkish delight. goodbye.

S-dub

Morning Glory

2006-12-21T09:49:00.000-08:00

Well as some of you may know, my dad's parents hail from Calgary Alberta in the foothills of the impressive Rocky Mountains. I would just like to share a little bit of beauty from that part of the world with you all. My grandparents are exactly my style of grandparents... I mean who else's grandparents would wake up, hike to the top of a hill in the snow to enjoy the beautiful sunrise over their city? The two of them probably wrote the Calgary dayhike guide because they've been everywhere. They are truly inspiring people and I would just like to publicly thank them for inspiring in me a spirit of outdoor adventure that shows no signs of dying.
I love you both... and the rest of you as well.

Stew

Stewart: 3 - Exams: 1

2006-12-14T17:10:00.000-08:00

Done am I. I killed three of the exams. Shot em' dead and left em' bleeding in the exam room. One of them took me by the scruff of my neck and dragged me across a really large cheese grater, then proceeded to pour salt and lemon juice all over my bleeding body. While I was writhing on the ground in agony it came up to me and kicked me right in the gut... yeah, I didn't even finish my Outdoor Leadership exam. Actually only one kid did... my room-mate which made it even worse. Oh well, I had fun writing it. We were presented with a very unwinnable emergency backcountry situation and we had to come up with how we would handle it while looking after our clients according to the industry standard of care. The situation was as follows:

You are solo guiding a group of six teenagers in Banff National Park (grizzly country). You are two days in when one of the teens falls three meters off a cliff and you must suspect a spinal injury (ie. improvised transport is not an option). While providing first aid one of the kids knocks your satellite phone off your pack and breaks it! You are 25Km from the parking lot where there is a payphone. It will be raining in forty minutes and the weather is deteriorating for the next few days. What do you do?

After finishing my answer, I announced to the class that I had killed just killed six kids. After the laughter subsided, the tears filled my eyes and I struggled through the rest of the exam :) Boy it was a blast.

Anyway I rocked my papers and now I'm really tired and in desperate need of Christmas break.

Love you all.

S-dub

Oh Sweet Relief

2006-12-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

I just finished my last project/paper for the semester and let me tell you it was a doozie! I think that it ended up being about 50 some-odd pages long. It was a trip planning assignment for Outdoor Leadership and there were just so many things that we had to include. But it's over now... I feel like one all nighter per semester isn't the end of the world... although I went to my 8:00 class when about half the class skipped! That felt backwards... shouldn't I have been the one skipping? Nope, not Stewart Reimer.
Ok so previous to this weekend I was sick like a dog. I had a fever that soaked my bed with sweat at night (so gross), a sore throat that felt like someone had sandpapered half way down my esophagus, a splitting head ache, aching muscles and joints, a night time cough and during the day I was coughing up bloody phlegm! So on thursday night I bought some NyQuil and DayQuil, some vitamin C, some Halls with Echinachea and Vitamin C, and some Buckleys mixture all with money I didn't have to spend on such things. The reason I did this was because the next day (Friday) was Outdoor Leadership "Hell Night". It began at 04:00 hours when a United States Naval Petty Officer dressed in full fatigue breaks into the room where we are all half asleep and demands us on our feet with our pack and in formation. The day went from there. I will summarize by saying we snowshoed through 2 feet of snow in sub-zero temperatures for 34 hours without sleep or food. It is a great story but it's too involved and detailed for my blog... ask me about it in person.
So after this brutal day/night I thought that my Christmas holiday would be ruined and that I would get pnumonia or something and probably die. Well the opposite happened. The next morning after 16 hours of sleep, I woke up fully well except for a slight cough (but I still had my little flask of Buckley's so it was all good). I beat the illness out of my body. I was impressed. I also prayed a lot that day... I think God heard me.
So exams are next week and then we will be sweetly reunited my friends. I can hardly wait.

S-Money

Peace

2006-11-25T23:50:00.000-08:00

God is good all the time, but sometimes it is so much easier to see that God is good. It is beautiful outside. I'm at home with my family plus my cousin Chantelle. We spent the day together, enjoying eachother. We ate a delicious steak dinner while the snow gently fell outside coating the world in white. We walked for hours in the snow, laughing, talking, being. We made and drank steamed milk together, sitting in front of the fire in the living room until our eyes began to close. And now in this peaceful house we will rest.

Wishing you were all here.

Stewie

Far Too Heavy... Apologies

2006-11-22T10:27:00.000-08:00

So this year I have been thinking a bit about such things as postmodernity (and whatever it means) and the emergent church (and whatever they're on/off about). So today in Christian Theology my prof gave an interesting summary of what the term postmodernity entailed. She said it was a plea for help. It was a plea for help from a world who is despairing because everything that they put their confidence in is failing them. Reason and the capacity to think, science and experimental development, philosophy and psychology, the arts and all the other faculties of study... none of these has provided answers without developing more problems and questions. There is Nihlism in our society, a despair that beautifully contrasts with the hope that Jesus Christ has extended to us all.
I think when we try to come at God in our usual arrogant way of study, we fool ourselves to think that we can fathom God's infinity. We surround ourselves with theologies and then we cling to them as though they were the final say on who God was. One thing that I've started to appreciate is the anabaptist philosophy on theology. It is a focus less on clinging to a theology so tightly as to take drastic measures to protect it, but in making sure that any theology they believe is something that can be lived out and makes sense when practiced in a community. We have learned a lot about who God is and His character through his historical interaction with us, his people. I think that we can know certain things about God. I think we also really like to imagine that we know God enough to put limits on his capacities.
There is a real danger in creating a generation that believes what they're told, when they're told it without question. It's a danger that the German people succumbed to in the 1930's. I think that it is important to challenge and compare whatever it is that we are being taught or handed, with a critical mind seeking after truth. I think this involves a lifetime of reading, thinking and conversing with the wise people in our lives.
Oh and something else that came up in one of my classes:
You know the verse saying that as followers of Christ we need to, "Be in the world, but not of the world". I found it kind of interesting that this "verse" never actually appears in scripture. It's someone's paraphrase of what Jesus was praying to his Father in the garden. Check it out. John 17:6-18.

Peace Out *w/ Kip lisp*

"What? No Dance!"

2006-11-21T13:33:00.000-08:00

First of all I would just like to say that Carly has sweet tear-aways.

On to lesser important things...

Oh the drama. So we have this ultra-sweet Christmas banquet coming up and it is just classic. A comment from one of the guys on my soccer team should sum it up nicely: "I met my wife there". Needless to say people are simply frantic to get themselves a date to this thing. So then I think to myself, "what's the deal anyway? this is a menno college! There isn't even a dance (which some people are fairly upset about... as if they didn't get the memmo that they signed up to go to a mennonite school :) That made me laugh) so people can't get jiggy wit'it as our generation is oh so familiar with.
So because I've had some bad experiences in being people's "friend" dates. I'm going to opt not to pursue this course of action. Maybe if i'm dating someone before the banquet I'll take them... but that isn't really an option right now.

For the sake of conversation:
To dance or not to dance... a menno/reformed question.
Feel free to leave your opinion, this is mine:

In my experience "dances" (a fairly relative term but I'm referring to something we're all familiar with like the good ol' fvc highschool dance) are a needless temptation to a majority of the individuals involved. It is also my experience that dances can be a riot amidst friends who are simply making fools of themselves and laughing it up. I think however that it is something that I would willingly forgo in order to keep myself and others from an incredibly "in-your-face" temptation.

Looking forward to hearing from you all.

S-Double Rubble Stubble

Reim Time*

2006-11-16T18:59:00.000-08:00

*A girl named Tasha Reimer came up with this clever nick name for the Reimer camaraderie on campus.

So I have the pleasure of writing a sweet Ethical Reasoning paper on the human moral duty to feed the starving people of the world. I'll be using Kant's Catagorical Imperative (which states that we should act only according to the maxim that we would at the same time will that it become a universal law) to support that claim. Then I will argue against Kant's Catagorical Imperative using the argument of Ethical Egoism which states that we ought to do only what is in our self-interest to do, and this excludes expending effort to feed starving people. I will then counter the argument of Ethical Egoism with the argument that Ethical Egoism is unacceptably arbitrary and therefore fails as a moral theory. Ethical egoism demands an unacceptably arbitrary preference to one's own interests dividing the world into two categories: oneself and the rest of the world. It requires different treatment of different people for no justifiable reason and therefore it should be discounted for the same reason as racism. I will then back up my (now destroyed) argument against Kant's Categorical Imperative by using Ayn Rand's Philosophy which states that any moral theory that does not place an indefinitely higher priority on the needs and interests of self, violates the worth of the individual in a vulgar and reproachable manner. She states that, "the basic principle of altruism is that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the only justification of his existence, and that self-sacrifice is his highest moral duty, virtue and value. . . The irreducible primary of altruism, the basic absolute, is self-sacrifice – which means; self-immolation, self-abnegation, self-denial, self-destruction – which means: the self as a standard of evil, the selfless as a standard of the good." After pointing out the many flaws of Ayn Rand's theory, I will declare that I have sufficiently proven that as humans we have a moral duty to feed the starving people of the world on the basis of Kant's Categorical Imperative.

So now I'm going to go write my paper... I hope you enjoyed your lesson on Ethical Reasoning. :)

S-double rubble

Stealing the Life out of Poetry : (

2006-11-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

So I came to the realization that my writing wasn't as clearly laid out as I thought it was. I will try to explain this a little better. I hope very few of your opinions of me were damaged in the process :)
Ok, so I was inspired to write this poem as I was walking home one evening watching the brilliant moon dancing among the holes in the clouds. I began my poem describing/personifying the moon as a beautiful woman in a black gown (the night sky) wearing all kinds of jewelry speckled with diamonds (stars). After achieving a satisfactory picture of the moon in her beauty, I began to relate this image to the beautiful woman in the poem who "motions for me to come". Then I realize that there was a man who was standing in front of me the whole time (implied that he's been observing the same spectacle). The woman/moon then disappears behind the clouds and, captivated by physical beauty (as I plead any man might be), the narrator (which I guess is me :) ) wishes that he might have jumped at his chance to "steal her away". He then realizes that the other man did jump at the chance and he "missed out". "Missed out" is of course a relative term because the author must have arrived at some sort of enlightened state regarding the situation to have written such a satiricle piece.
I hope that helps :) and I am still laughing.

S-dub

College

2006-11-12T23:03:00.000-08:00

Her hands shake in anticipation
Temples pound like elephants in her head
Fidgeting fingers flipping the phone
Open and closed, around and around
Fresh air does nothing to appease
The tunnel vision of her mind
Kia Krause craving caffeine

An Improvised Weekend

2006-11-12T21:52:00.000-08:00

So plans to go to Calgary this weekend went down the toilet due to bad weather forecast both for the Coquahalla and Roger's Pass. It stinks because I only get to see my grandparents once or twice a year but it is probably for the best because I don't think you guys would've appreciated the news that the Reimer family died in a car accident... I wouldn't appreciate that kind of news if I was in your shoes. While we're on the topic, my friend Elena here at school recieved news that one of her good family friends had died today. There is something about raw emotion that snaps you back to reality. We live in a world with much brokenness.
I got an assist in our soccer game on the weekend... as a defender I'm proud of that :) We came back from 0-2 to put it into shoot-outs and for only the 2nd or 3rd time in my life I was a part of the winning side of a shoot-out! I didn't shoot. We were pretty pumped as it was only our third win of a tough season.
After our game I had the pleasure of announcing the men's volleyball game here at school... lots of "Chad Friesen with the huge kill". It was fun and I got paid!
I went to South Abbotsford MB church today. It was awesome. They pick up and drop off CBC students on a church bus! The pastor of the church was (if I'm not mistaken) the pastor who married Joel and Ali this summer. He spoke on prayer and it was good. Very fitting for Canada's IDOP.
Speaking of prayer, I might just go do that.

S-double-rubble.

Naivety

2006-11-11T12:32:00.000-08:00

Her pale perfect features faintly peer from behind a vaporous veil of cloud.
She winks, watching me from a distance.
Her elegant ebony gown floats freely about her delicately distinct form.
From the tantalizing tiara atop her soft satin hair,
to the serene silver rings round invisible toes,
diamonds dot her body sparkling supernaturally,
Like God shining through holes in this black canvas universe.
She makes a motion for me to come.
Blindly I bumble into the modest man in front of me pleading his pardon,
Suddenly, silently she slips away into the deep dark of midnight's mood.
I'm left lingering, head raised high hoping heartily for another chance,
to break the bonds of silent sounds,
and say the words to unite mere man with the goddess of the gorgeous.
But the fair fellow ahead of me got there first.

for clarity's sake:
In this poem I'm comparing the flirtatious woman with the moon as it teases in and out of the clouds. Because the moon is a tease to everyone who sees her... so is she. It is a comedy... I guess that means it made me laugh :)

Life and Times of SDVR

2006-11-02T19:21:00.000-08:00

I just went kayaking for four days and it was awesome. I learned how to roll a kayak and the combination of the zero degree air and the near zero degree water (in which my head was submerged for at least a minute) made me pretty sick. But I rolled it on my second try and I did it twice to prove that I could do it. It was very cold. My feet didn't warm up for five hours even with wool socks on (don't ask me why my feet were that cold because they didn't even get wet!).
This trip also marked what was definitely my most elaborate menu plan ever on the 'trail'. For breakfast, I made the crew bacon and egg mcmuffins. For lunch I made a salmon patee served on melba toast with Pringles. For dinner I made fresh linguini noodles with a seafood (crab, scallops, shrimp, in no small quantity) alfredo sauce. That was followed shortly by a pumpkin pie with whipped cream that I made and baked from almost scratch on the beach at Kunechen Point. It was a marvelous day.
Highlights of the trip include being blasted by a thirty minute squall that approached without warning from down the fjord, doused us with sleet and blew through leaving the snow level a mere 200 meters from the ocean. Another highlight was definitely seeing (and feeling) a sea cucumber, seeing a two and a half foot sea star, paddling the tandem kayak with my roomie sheldon and playing pirates. Another highlight would have to be eating far too much sugar on the ferry ride home and laughing rediculously with the rest of my group.
Halloween was great fun. I woke up early to dress up as the "evil anabaptist". This consisted of coating my face/neck/ears in mud, giving myself grass hair under my camo hat and dressing in full camouflage with a big knife (obviously for killing people like an evil anabaptist might). I thought I was pretty clever being at an mennonite school and all. Joel Bron dressed up as a pumpkin, Dale dressed up as Darth Maul, Brittany and Janel were ferry princesses, Jill was a sweet old granny, Joanne was a marshmellow, Kelsey was a hippie, and Sheldon was "super OL man" in a full spandex body suit. All in all, pretty sweet. So then my buddies Eric and Phil from the soccer team had a Halloween bash at their house on campus and we had some fun secretly turning the heat for the house up to 90 degrees and laughing at all the people sweating.
I had to go to bed early though (as per usual on tuesday nights) to wake up for Outdoor Leadership cardio in the morning. We had our second Tae Bo session with this fifty year old woman who absolutely destroys us and then tells us that her seniors classes do better than we do! It is an amazing work out though if you ever get the chance :) Then she goes and leads four more classes for the day! It is sickening. I have never sweat like that in my life before.
For dinner today we ate Pork medalions with rice and veggies with cheese and a roll... it was good, like most food here. I think I might succeed in making my meal card last for the semester.
I've been able to spend some quality times with my cousin lately here at school. She is such a sweety I love her. I never really had the opportunity to get to know here before but I'm enjoying it quite a lot right now.
All my midterms are finished and I believe that I did fairly well on all of them. I know that I aced two of them but as for the rest we'll see. School is going well though. I have really enjoyed strapping the old thinker on again. I don't think that I've ever thought this much about what I believe in my entire life. It is great to be able to do that, and constantly be bouncing your thoughts off other people who are also thinking about these things. There are some amazing people here that I have the privelidge of talking to.
Well, I hope that about fills you in on my life recently. Oh, Carly Dyck is sitting beside me right now and I just need to say that she's awesome. Definitely didn't give her the time of day in high school and I have since apologized for that.

I hope you all are well.
Love, S-doggy.

This Weather is Incredible!

2006-10-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

I wrote my first mid-term today. I studied way too much for that... Navigation is a great thing to study up on though. We had a field day last Friday where we created a route to follow up Mt. McGuire using only topographical features, bearings and altitudes. It was a riot. Bushwhacking while following a bearing is the ultimate adventure. So long trails... You are a bygone era. I bought a $50 compass to prove the point, so now I just need an altimeter and I'm set (Santa, you should be taking notes).
I decided that I can't stand the thought of watching TV... I'm on the line with movies. It's not that I can't stand watching TV, I actually quite like it, very enjoyable. I just can't justify it in any way in my mind.
Thanksgiving was terrific. My family took in some out of province CBC students as well as Joel Bron (Who's parents were in Victoria for thanksgiving in order for Mr. Bron to run a MARATHON?!!) and Joel VanHove (for reasons I still can't wrap my head around). My mom made four pies and 11kg of turkey! It was amazing.
Some of my courses are really challenging my... Theology? It is a time of much thought and I am enjoying the time to think. I definitely have input from both sides of the spectrum to sift through and compare. I need discernment and wisdom. Holy Spirit fill me with wisdom and discernment.

I love you all.
Stew.

Scattered Cloud

2006-09-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

Here are a rather random series of updates as I do not perticularly feel like organizing my thoughts:
-I made the CBC Bearcats Soccer team. I play left defence which is something I've never done before. The guys on the team are awesome and our coach plays on the field with us! I thought that was weird, but because we don't play in the CIS league it's fully legite. Yesterday after a 2-2 draw vs. the Walla Walla Wolves (a team from washington) we headed over to my coach's house for some sweet burgers, hot tubbing and pool. It was awesome.
-I have made a good friend in my room mate Sheldon Boodt (some of you may know him *cough* Adrienne *cough*). He's from Rocky Mountain House Alberta and a bonefide farmboy. One of my highlights with him so far have been laughing in our beds for about five minutes straight at non-jokes. It was definitely good times. Today we're going rock climbing in mission... should be good.
-My Nuefeld grandparents came to the CBC campus today and I luckily ran into them. They gave me hugs and invited me and my cousin Chantelle to their house for dinner one evening.
-I got set up to do my service practicum volunteering with the outdoor school program that runs out of WJ Mouat Highschool! I'm so pumped for that, it's like free ministry experience that I get credit for.
-I'm really enjoying most of my classes so far. I think my favourite is my NT Survey class. John Vooys is my style of teacher: all lecture :)
-I definitely am already looking forward to Christmas when I get to see you all again... and because I'm building a wicked sweet Christmas (gear) List :) just kidding.
Remember to pray. I love you all dearly.

Reimer out.

South Chilcotin Range

2006-09-20T09:44:00.000-07:00

Last thursday after classes at 1700 hours, I left with my Outdoor Leadership Alpha skills group to the South Chilcotin Mountain Range north of Pemberton and Lilloette by an hour or so. We spent four days in the surrounding alpine focusing on three objectives: Backcountry Cooking, Alpine Navigation and Alpine Travel. Some highlights included calling a Great Horned Owl and having it call back to me for about five minutes or so. I also heard a Cougar for the first time in my life. He was screaming not more than a couple hundred meters from our camp like a woman being butchered. It was very haunting and not the most pleasant sound to fall asleep to. The same night there were also several wolves howling to eachother. The next day we saw wolf tracks in the snow that were about the size of my hand up to the big knuckle. There were mountain horse outfits in the area and the horses traveling the same mountaineering route as us (I have a whole knew appreciation for horses and their versatility... these horses' legs were like tree trunks) would not go anywhere near the Wolf tracks in the snow.
We also had the pleasure of camping in a pristine alpine meadow where I think you could count on one hand the number of groups that roll through there in a year. In this meadow there was a mouse who was completely unconcerned with our human activities. In fact he would nibble the seeds in the grass right next to your foot. He very much liked the shelter of our sleeping area though... Dave claims to have spooned with the mouse during the night :)
Traveling atop an 8000 ft ridge for eight kilometers with dark and threatening clouds pouring over the even higher ridge line right next to ours was a little bit nerve wracking. There were definitely concerns in the group about becoming a lightning rod...
My backcountry cuisine reached its peak with the fantastic apple pie which I baked for the group (thanks to mom for the recipe). Dave and I also cooked a broccoli beef stir-fry although it was at the trail head so we had the advantage of fresh veggies and meat.
Another highlight was the revisitation of the Non-Joke. Check it out with a google search and find some one to laugh your pants off with. It is best when you are tired and creative :)
All in all it was a fantastic trip where we were all left to wonder at the splendour and majesty of the character of our creator in the face of his creation. I've never seen such a panorama or mountain peaks in my life. But better will one day be in His house than a thousand elsewhere, even in the Chilcotin Range.
I love you all.
My dorm's phone number is 604-504-0051 ext 1. it isn't very reliable mainly because I am rarely there but email works :)

Whirlwind

2006-09-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

WOW.
I just jumped into the fast lane of life and it doesn't look like it's slowing down any time soon. I barely even had time to say goodbye to my family and friends before I was finished work, out the door, spending lots of money and hiking on the beautiful Olympic Penninsula of Washington State. It was gorgeous but I don't have pictures because I suck. (long story, very frustrating).
So for those new to Stewart's 2006-2007 adventure, I am attending Columbia Bible College enrolled in the Outdoor Leadership Diploma program. This last weekend (as it is demanded that we complete two, three-day trips on our own time during each semester) I summitted the beautiful and terrible Mt. MacFarlane. For those of you in-the-know, this elusive peak has... well, eluded me for the longest of times. I assure you it was sooo so worth it. I treked up there with five of my new found friends Friday night, hung out Saturday at the lake during the rain and then Elena and I were the only people daring enough to set out at 5:30 in the morning to summit the mountain before heading home. Again, pictures will follow. Time is of the essence.
Currently meeting Joel BEEron for some chai tea at my lovely residence in the Montecito Apartment complex (rm. 104). Love you all.

Stewart

Of Accidents and Polish Women

2006-08-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

So on Tuesday I got in a car accident. It's not bad, don't freak out. I wasn't hurt and neither was she. Some young, good looking, Polish woman (kinda like Mishka) decided that after an hour sitting in traffic on the Pattulo Bridge, that she would chance a left hand turn across four lanes of traffic on Grandview Hwy. Two lanes were stopped, mine wasn't. Unable to see her or her me I plowed right into her. The damage isn't even worth posting a picture of but I get a new hood and a new bumper and new headlights for free. Yay!
And the best part is, I have the phone number of a very cute Polish girl and a fully valid excuse to give her a call :)
I'm mainly joking but I think I might buy her flowers or something. She was quite nice to accept responsibility without too much of a fight.

In other news... I'm going camping this weekend until Tuesday! Translation: WAKEBOARDING!!! This makes stewart very happy. I'll post pictures if'n I land anything sweet... or even if I don't.

School is coming up soon! That is crazy. Cudos to Chapmans on the healthy birth of their unbelievably cute little boy, Kai Deken Chapman. (*notice I didn't say "baby" because infants that large from the womb of a woman that not-so-large safely by-pass the "baby" stage, progressing immediately to the catagory of "little boy").

I love you all. Keep acknowledging Jesus Christ as the giver of every good and perfect gift. He truely is.

The Othello Tunnels...

2006-07-15T23:05:00.000-07:00

So I was a little nervous going into the whole affair seeing as I had been asked only several days before if I would be willing to lead the hike. I went to great lengths to seek out details surrounding the "hike" and the area and weather and history etc. all the things a good guide might find the time to do. During my "research" I discovered that (as Gary was quick to point out) the Othello Tunnels is not really a hike at all but instead an abandoned railway line once connecting Creston to the Coast. As the astute reader will be quick to realize, railway lines are know for fairly unimpressive elevation gains, that is to say I think if I had a three kilometer level to lay across the trail our little bubble would be quite comfortable between the lines.
So the city of surrey kindly hooked me up with this class 4 driver/assistant/sweep who reminded me quite vividly of Jonny Klassen from the 2006 grad class of fvchs. He was great, up until he decided to crank Z 95.3 in a bus full of middle-aged people who were tired and a little annoyed that they just paid $25 a head for a flat 2 and a half hour walk and a guide who wouldn’t shut up about the shrubs and trees and composition of igneous intrusive rock because he was so obviously desperate to eat up the time that their hard-earned money had paid for!
Ok, in reality it wasn’t that bad at all. I did sort of get shafted in terms of a good hike, but I am a fairly interesting person to take walks with… I even had them all using their five senses. Smelling the red elderberry, tasting the red huckleberry, listening for the Swainson’s Thrush, looking at the beautiful burnt orange Aster, and feeling nature’s toilet paper: thimbleberry leaves.
The place really is gorgeous and well worth the two hour drive… but honestly four hours of driving for two hours of hiking? Not the best circumstance for a first guiding experience… or maybe it was?
Either way it went well and this Saturday I continued my stint as lead guide taking eight lovely clients up to the UBC Research Forest beside Golden Ears Park. It was very lovely. The perfect hike for the fitness of those along and we only went the wrong way twice… ouch.
It made me laugh actually… though it did nothing for the confidence of my hikers who towards the end of the hike would very openly voice their opinion about which fork in the trail they thought we should take. It wasn’t really that I didn’t put the effort in to scout the hike or anything ( Ashley accompanied me scouting it out on Wednesday in the pouring rain after a long day of work… wow) but I guess sometimes you just miss little things like how an uprooted tree can fall in just the right way that it blocks your line of sight to the trail marker! Or when you have a fifty-fifty chance at walking the right way up a road to the general area marked on your feeble map as “view point” and you boldly lead your clients one kilometer in the wrong direction. So I discovered today that although things like that could potentially ruin your day and your clients’ day, it’s best to laugh it off because even adults like to follow the leader. I laughed and seeing me laughing they laughed too, and in the end we got to our view point and we found that trail marker hidden by the fallen tree and I got them all home safe and sound and snug as a bug. They all had their share of beautiful scenery and a rather exciting Stewart-esque education on forest ecology.
Sweet deal.

*just re-read that… I sound like a sucky guide. I’m definitely selling myself short though because I love my job and I give’er my all. And I got a tip last week so I can’t be that bad right? ;)

Big Step! ...

2006-07-07T17:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, maybe not that big, but I'm guiding my first ever hiking trip this saturday! The weather is awesome and it is a really easy and straight forward hike. If you've ever been to the Othello Tunnels in Hope you'll know I mean literally straight forward :) should be fun. Ask me how it was.

Stewart

Souvenir Anyone?

2006-06-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

*warning: RANT
I would just like to announce that I rid myself of the accursed green magnet today. I miraculously got an exam date on the day that I was allowed to do so and after an overly stressful forty-five minutes, he said "you passed," and I said "sweet".
I don't know about most of you, but there were at least two days when I was ready to ring the neck of the nearest politician for allowing such a system to come into play. The first of these occasions happened when coming home one night from a lovely soak at Gabe’s house. I was simply driving three of my buddies home and happened upon a police roadblock on the Freeway off-ramp. I knew I was done-for when I saw one “N” driver already pulled over on the side of the road. So I got a ticket for driving my friends home and managed to talk my way out of a ticket for not having my stupid magnet on the back of my car. Both were infractions that arose solely from this clever little cash-grab scheme thought up by our loving friends at ICBC and promoted heartily by our Provincial government.
I would like to go (not as far as you might think) out on a limb here: I think ICBC is patenting it’s discriminatory programs against responsible young people after Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany. I mean after all isn’t our very definition of discrimination painting an entire people with the same broad brushstrokes? And then comes the mandatory public identification armbands… I mean green magnets. Giving foggy large generalizations as reasons for their actions, for example, “Young people street race”, or “Young people submit to peer pressure”.
Since when is the government responsible for attempting to increase the maturity level of an entire generation? Why not sober up the drunk and high fools and the street racers (mainly males, which makes me think that if I were a female I would be quite a bit more perturbed) who go around killing families, by enforcing some laws that have some punishments attached? I think that the Asian world has their heads screwed on straight. People caught selling drugs are executed… guess what, most Asian provinces don’t have drug problems… Now I’m not suggesting executing drunk drivers and street racers, but if they don’t see their lives as valuable enough to treat them with respect and by doing so, endanger or end other people’s lives… there has to be more dissuasion than staying overnight in the tank or staying a year in prison.
So, then I think, “can you really send a kid to prison for five years because he made a bad decision?”. Well maybe he shouldn’t go to prison, maybe he should be sent to a labour camp where he can learn to become a productive member of society and rethink the value of life. But isn’t grace better? Well does grace remove consequence? Should a judicial system be based on grace? Is the realization of what they just did enough punishment? I think it's largely circumstantial...
Well enough of that rant.
My second day of severe disgruntlement came after the first, when at 18 years of age, I had to ask my MOTHER to come with me to pick up three of my friends to come over for a barbeque! I very well could have broken the law, I would have gotten away with it I promise you. But I guess I wasn’t willing to take the chance at having to swallow another $125.00 ticket for being a nice guy.
So now ends this era of simmering anger in the life of Stewart Reimer. If anyone wants a souvenir green “N” magnet, I don’t want it (don’t mind the dart holes).

Feeling Behind

2006-06-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

So I'll do my best to catch you up...
I'm still working as a part time canoeing instructor and loving it. That will be wrapping up at the middle-end of June and then I'll be back to full time construction. I'm on a very new site barely into Vancouver on Victoria and 37th (if you're in the area and care to pop by we take lunch at 1:00). At the same time as construction I will be working part time during evenings and weekends and sometimes during a week day guiding hikes, teaching canoeing, guiding canoe and kayak tours, and running my evening kids rock climbing program for the city of surrey Outdoor Rec Department. Fun times all around. My car hasn't broken down yet (thank you Lord), I am relatively healthy (thank you Lord), and I am learning to better love Jesus every day despite the fact that I certainly don’t love Jesus more every day (maybe like every month or something...). I can very clearly see that I have been very blessed this year and I have nobody to thank for that except my heavenly Father. It seems like I never run out of work, and every conceivable need that I have, is taken care of without fail.
Isn't it so easy to believe in times like these? Whenever something is easy in this walk it sort of scares me because after all "wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it". But then Jesus told us to follow him and take his yoke because it was easy and the burden was light…
But it is, in a way, exciting for me to think ahead and know that this time of seeing God's hand so clearly in my life will be an experience that I know I will draw on down the road when it just seems like nothing is going right and God is no where to be found. I think to myself that I ought not to let this time of calm pass by without being used to fully as a training ground for what is to come. To start layering on the Armour of God. To learn to trust God with my finances so that when it is much harder to do so, I have already set a pattern in my life to follow in obedience. To learn that no matter what comes my way God has made promises that apply to me right now.
I have confidence that if I embrace this time in my life as a time to learn to live by the Spirit, that when trials come, I will consider them pure joy knowing that the testing of my faith will produce in me perseverance which must finish its work so that I will be mature and complete not lacking anything. I think that’s one thing the Spirit does isn’t it? Adding the perspective of eternity to life…
Oh the fun of the theoretical Christian walk, so smooth yet complex and well articulated… I guess we’ll never run out of things to strive after. It’s a journey and I pray I’m stronger tomorrow.

So...

2006-04-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

I spent this week getting paid to canoe... it seems surreal but true none the less. I work with four people: Peter (my boss; just chalk full of impressive stories), Nataschaa (hope I spelled your name right; super cool girl who's seriously pursuing a spot as one of two Canadians on the Pole to Pole expedition team; http://www.poletopoleleadership.com check it out!), Matt (an aspiring Ice Climber who worked for Canada West Mountain School; www.themountainschool.com), and Luke (also works for EcoMarine Kayak tours and will be volunteering to coach softball in the special olympics this summer!). We paddle together instructing various high school and elementary school groups on Deer Lake, a beautiful little gem nestled into the bustling suburbia of Burnaby.
I have also started playing soccer in the BC Church league. It is definitely good times. We play on Friday and Monday evenings and appreciate lots of supporters :) So far we've won one and tied another but we promise to put on a good show... last game our College and Career pastor got yellow carded for knocking some chippy player on his behind... I was a little embarrassed... my anabaptist worldview took a little hit :)
Anyhow. Lots going on in stewart's world... but I haven't hung out with friends in a long time and I wish I was all the time. Such is life I suppose.

Stewie Boy Anime

2006-04-24T18:53:00.000-07:00

Josh, I'm sorry but I blew you away.

Against the Grain

2006-04-23T21:37:00.000-07:00

This was a hearty reminder to me this week... I hope you find it so as well.

The Servant King

From heaven you came helpless babe
Entered our world your glory veiled
Not to be served but to serve
And give Your life that we might live

This is our God the Servant King
He calls us now to follow Him
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to the Servant King

There in the garden of tears
My heavy load he chose to bear
His heart with sorrow was torn'
Yet not my will but Yours,' He said

Come see His hands and His feet
The scars that speak of sacrifice
Hands that flung stars into space
To cruel nails surrendered

So let us learn how to serve
And in our lives enthrone Him
Each other's needs to prefer
For it is Christ we're serving

-Graham Kendrick

Surrey Lake/Pond

2006-04-19T16:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I discovered that all I need for a good time is Daniel Dejong and a canoe :) we just got out on the lake and started paddling around till we found this creek which we proceeded to follow until we heard the calls of, "Four" and looked up to see people teeing off on a golf course that apparently ran on either side of our little creek. Pleading our innocence we continued our paddle all the way through the golf course to the club house where we promptly turned around and paddled back. We collected seven golf balls, a sweet little plastic red ball and we saluted four or five groups of golfers all of whom had a great chuckle at the two guys practising their canoe strokes in the water trap.
Afterwards we hit up T-Ho's and just had a lovely chat for what seemed like hours. I love doing genuine things like that after an afternoon of brilliant/clownish adventure. Then I stopped in at the Harskamps and chatted with them for another hour or so. James' parents are quality... if you're looking for some surrogate family members they are really good about bringing people in :) Love it.
Anywho. Hope you are all acing those exams. See you soon.

Albertan Adventures

2006-04-15T15:26:00.000-07:00

So right now I'm in Calgary visiting my awesome grandparents and my lovely aunties: Tammie and Bonnie. This often means several different things but one of which is a traditional Alberta Beef steak dinner. So tonight I will feast on the best meat in all of North America and make merry avec ma petite famille. Who knows, I might even get to sample some of Grandpa's Own wine cellar? (he is quite the accomplished wine maker)
I also just returned from a little sojourn up to the land of dry dead vegetation, concrete and... people? I still can't get over why anyone would want to live in Edmonton... It was good times though, getting to see the sights where all the stories actually come from, meet the people in the pictures and spend some quality time with old friends. But honestly who names a main boulevard, Whitemud? Anyways, I largely had a wonderful time with all of my well-masked, stress-case friends and that is all that matters.
Can't wait for Peter's tomorrow after church! If you are ever in Calgary... Peter's Drive-In is a must. You won't be disappointed.

Mmmmm!

2006-04-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

As I sit in my chair, assailed by the smells of stewing chilli and freshly baked buns, I am reminded again of what a blessing my mother is to me and my family. I think I'm going to marry a woman who will spoil me like my mother... back from the world of dreams. Oh, I heard a buzzer! The buns are ready, it's supper time!

I'm sorry but I'm quite overwhelmed by the stimulation of my olfactory nerves... I have nothing else to say.

Digging

2006-04-09T15:26:00.000-07:00

This verse has been mystifying me of late: "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. " Matthew 6:33
How do you seek the Kingdom? How do you pursue righteousness? If we knew how to do these things, God straight up made a promise to take care of all our needs.
I think that Peter knew how to seek the kingdom of God first, although still caged in broken human form, he was by no means a perfect example.
"28Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!"
29"I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."
(Jesus makes another promise for those who seek His kingdom first!)
Peter left his trade, his family, his friends, his home and EVERYTHING, just to follow after the man that he loved so dearly. He knew the person of Jesus, met with him, talked with him, shared life with him. He counted the cost and abandoned everything to become a fisher of men. All my life I have read that verse I completely missed that the promise is for this age with an added bonus of eternal life in the age to come.
What exactly did Peter do though? How did he seek the Kingdom? It sounds to me like he was just Jesus friend. Plain and simple. Daily walking by his side, praying with him, learning from him, and spending himself on him even when it seemed rediculous or when there were so many other things he could have been doing with his life. I believe the bible says we are the kingdom of God, the church. Peter was the Rock on which God built his kingdom.
So how do we pursue righteousness? "so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God." Phillipians 1:9-11
*sidenote: our righteousness glorifies and praises God!!! Paul tells us that righteousness comes through Jesus Christ. What does that mean? Are we all righteous because of Jesus? I certainly don't feel righteous. Is it even a feeling? Or is it a state? Can we become more righteous? "17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[a] just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." Romans 1:17
So righteousness comes from a faith in Jesus... "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?" Romans 6:16
and righteousness comes from obedience. But what do we obey? God I guess.
So to seek righteousness means to have faith in Jesus Christ and to obey God's commands. That can be a daunting task when we don't know what they are... because we as a "modern church" don't. I don't even think that I could list the ten commandments off the top of my head. Something is wrong there. Psalm 119 is devoted to the psalmist's love of the commands of the Lord! Well I'll have some of what he's having.
"20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." 2Peter 2:20-22
Paul tells us that righteousness is our way of life. It is an identity. We are travelling on the way of righteousness, speckeled with much repentance and struggling to remember that the map is right in front of us if we weren't too stubborn to pick it up.

So take what you want, those were just some questions of mine and I had to dig... which generally just leads to more questions.

Sweet Victory

2006-04-07T21:53:00.000-07:00

Now, I'm not much of a coffee drinker (unless it has chocolate or other flavouring in it), but fortunately for me I work with many individuals addicted to said beverage. I also don't think that it has ever been noted that construction workers have perticularly sharp memories. These two things in combination with the fact that Tim Hortons is presently showering Canada with free doughnuts and coffee make my days at work that much more exciting. You see in my travels on our jobsite I am very frequently confronted with empty or full, abandoned Tim Hortons coffee cups. Averaging about one find per day there is always a subconscious treasure hunt going on inside my head as I go about my daily projects. Well this wednesday, as I held the almost full, stone cold, not yet rolled cup in my shaking hand, images of my new SUV flashed through my head. But alas, it was not to be! But I won an extra large Hot Beverage! And what a sweet victory it was.

Then I went ahead and bough half a dozen doughnuts and got completely suckered into the whole reason that they give free stuff away in the first place: so that you buy MORE!!!... which isn't really a bad thing, cause after all I got to eat six doughnuts :) yum.

Musing

2006-04-04T19:15:00.000-07:00

Love is a curious thing isn't it?
I think Satan hates it when we love eachother.
That's why it's so much easier not to love.
Satan's way is always easier.
God is love... that's why Satan hates it.
It's easier to just let go...
To let go and pretend that you've forgotten.
But we don't forget, do we?
Instead, we just stick to the wide, well traveled road.
But that's not ours to take.
We've got to love.
Love can overcome all things...
But only when it's implimented.
Love can bring you back from the brink.
Love that never fails reminds you that you're loved when you fail.
Love penetrates cold and hardened hearts.
Love is a fire burning out in the cold.
Love is a perfect man beaten and whipped,
The Son of God humiliated by those he created,
The High King of Kings crucified.
Love conquered death to bring life,
Now we live to Love.

The Dilema

2006-03-30T17:14:00.000-08:00

Here is the dilema facing me right now:
I currently have a very steady job in construction. It pays well, is fairly local and allows for a fair amount of personal freedom in terms of time off. For instance I could go on one of the Wellness Trips with FVCH, I could go to Calgary for Easter with my family to visit the Grandparents, I could canoe the Bowron Lake Chain with Chapman (sidenote* and Adam) etc. I quite like this carpentry business, it is fantastic work. It is very much a project: you are constantly learning, always feeling like you got something done, and have that extraordinary feeling of exhaustion at the end of the day.
On the other hand, I successfully pulled the wool over the eyes of Parks and Rec in Burnaby so that they want to hire me as a canoe instructor (no, I didn't lie... but I did straight up tell them that I'd never instructed canoeing before). I believe that this will be a fantastic job and would probably lead to an even better job in the summer. I am confident that I would enjoy it just as much as being a carpenter's helper if not more. The thing is, it wouldn't be a gaurantee of full time hours. It would pay more hourly than what I'm doing now but because I might not get 40 hours a week my pay cheque would be smaller. Money is important in some respects... However, I then toy with the idea of attempting to fill in my "missing hours" by flying out to the construction site when I'm off of work... but I don't know how my foreman will react to that proposition. Working as a canoeing instructor would also give me some return on my education investment... something that I dearly would love to have. I would just make it seem that much more worthwhile. I think it would also require living with a little more faith... trusting that God will provide for my financial needs despite not being able to see how that is going to happen. It would also be a fair amount of sacrifice on my part.
So I guess I've sort of made up my mind to do the Canoe Instructor thing. All I can say is that my life is very much in God's hands and I think he can and will use my decision for His glory cause He likes to do things like that. In the mean time if anyone out there would like to spend the time to pray for me I would love it.

I love you all. Enjoy your Saturday afternoon... I hope it's sunny where you are cause it sure isn't here.

My Cactus

2006-03-29T16:54:00.000-08:00

During my stay in the Learning Assistance room at FVC, I received a splendid gift. You see I have loved cacti for as long as I can remember (my mom too, cause she has adorned our house with them for a long time), but I have never had a blooming cactus! That is until I was talking to Shannon Friesen one day and she gave me one of her moms. So I entrusted it to the care of my mother to be watered with her other cacti and guess what!

It's pretty much BEAUTIFUL!

I Dub Thee: Princess Precidia

2006-03-26T18:12:00.000-08:00

So over the last couple of weeks I've been more and more realizing a need to get myself a vehicle. I was taking the bus to and from work, adding a rather draining hour and a half to my day. Awesomely enough God saw fit to bless me with a sweet little car and loving parents to spot me the cash to buy it. One of the doctor's that my mom works with on Labour and Delivery at BGH heard that her son was looking for a nice cheap car to buy. She jumps in and offers to sell me her 1994 Mazda MX-3 Precidia. Well a couple of weeks and a couple grand later, I bought and insured her car and now it is sitting on my driveway looking pretty. I took some pictures for you all to see it. If you want maybe you could stop by and I can take you for a spin and we can talk cars for a bit... Adam this means you :) Oh and while you're here buddy, I was out the other day and I felt my dual triaxle overhead receptor device starting to loosen up again so I was thinkin we could throw on the grease suits and dive under the hood on Monday. Oh and maybe while we're under there we could replace the stock zx54 drive converter with a new supercharged reverse injected thermoregulater that I picked up... but you know, only if you're up for it.

shalom my friends.

It was raining... because that is what it does here in the Vancouver... I apologize for the drab feeling that gives off.

Rated "F" for Frank Sexual Monologue

2006-03-12T16:03:00.000-08:00

James, one of my fellow co-workers, offered me last week to come to his bbq this saturday where he assured me that he could get one of his lady friends to "jump my bone".
This comment arose from what I found to be a very interesting discussion surrounding the discovery that Stewart Reimer was still a virgin *gasp*. To rewind even further, the discovery of Stewart Reimer's still intact virginity was led to by a slow piecing together that he was in fact a Christian.
The rest of the day James spent exploring all of the things that I haven't done, that obviously everyone else in the world does. It was interesting to note his comment of disbelief was that, "Dude, the times are changing!", and how true that is. Though from James' perspective I need to "get with the times", I know that God has told me how I should live and in this day and age it is the very epitome of counter-culture. At work I stick out like a sore thumb by what I don't do and say... and often that can be a little bit intimidating.
But oh the times are changing. Remaining a sexually pure male Christian has become a truly daunting task. Struggling to control a healthy God-given drive for sex, we can't help but notice the plethora of means by which lust can infiltrate both body and mind. Jesus is clear that thinking lustfully about a woman is equated to committing adultery with her in your heart. Obviously something that no Christian should want any part of, married or not. The thing is, we men are visually stimulated sexual beings living in a culture where the highly erotic female body is being abused by public media with seemingly no restraint. From puberty, the male population of this society has become supercharged with testosterone and enough sensual images to make a boy's head spin. In a lot of cases, what comes of that little recipe is lust-filled masturbation, something that I can assure you Jesus would equate to fornication or adultery. Do we equate it with that? Because we live in a society that largely has no idea what fornication is.
Further still, the curiosity of a sex-saturated mind can very easily and very quickly lead down the road of pornography. From a removed perspective we see this distant evil as a brutal maligning of the beauty of sex, a dispicable thing to partake in. Telling that to a young Christian boy who, from his first encounter with a naked woman only a couple mouse clicks away, has slowly become addicted, will do very little. It's like telling a crack addict that crack is bad for them. We may even realize that the future of our sexual lives is very much at stake, but the possibility of quiting such an addiction on our own is almost futile.
Gentlemen, don't live life thinking you're alone, use your resources (accountability, eachother, books, the Holy Spirit, thirsting after God not lust etc.). Ladies, don't be ignorant of the plight that your brothers face on a day to day basis.
Watching our culture going into an out of control sexual spin, I'm finding many reminders that I am a flag-bearer of "right living". We are the body of Christ and I think it is imparitive that we pay close attention to our members who are perticularly vulnerable in certain areas.

Dinner for Twenty

2006-03-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

Last night was an occasion like no other.
A couple of weeks ago at College and Career, one of the student leaders who is our church's chef, Andrew Ere, proposed a small culinary festivus for the first twenty people to sign up. Being a rather avid pursuant of good food, I was the second person on the list. That brings me to last night where I was gathered with 19 other people to watch Andrew and his chef-buddy Markus prepare the most marvelous spread of Spanish cuisine and ambience that I have ever had the pleasure of taking part in.
Sitting at a large, long, candlelit table with Spanish classical music providing a lovely backdrop, very similar to how an extended Spanish family might sit for lunch (minus the candle light... and probably the spanish music as well), we waited for the first course of appetizers to be served to us. Pastor Ezra prayed, and Andrew and Markus brought out some of the freshest tossed salad I have ever tasted sprinkled in a light balsamic vinegar dressing. That was closely followed by fetta cheese stuffed green olives and flatbread topped with a "salad" of tomato, onion and peppers. It was eight o'clock by the time we saw the first of this food, and the last time that I had eaten was 1:00. After a long day on the old construction site, it's needless to say that I had to restrain myself from eating till I was full on appetizers (and believe me, there was enough of every course for me to have eaten till I was full at each setting).
The next course of appetizers were fried slices of spicy Chorizo sausage in red wine oil, complemented very well with a cold Andalusian Gazpacho, which is a thick, cold, tangy, vegetable soup assumably originating in Andalusia... but don't ask me where that is.
After a small wait, our chefs (who were fully decked out in chef hats, and white chef suit jackets... pretty spiffin... kinda like spacemen) brought out dishes filled with mussels in a spicy tomato sauce. This was served with foccia bread to make sure none of your tomato sauce went to waste, Delicious! It was the first time I'd ever eaten mussels and they didn't dissapoint. The next course was a Seafood Paella with Saffron which was phenomenal. I can't really describe it because I don't know exactly what was in it but I'm pretty sure that it was something similar to this http://www.post-gazette.com/food/20011220paella5ap9.asp. It was something I could have very easily lost restraint and filled right up on... but I persevered and saved room for what was to come.
There was then a slight pause in the onslaught of entres and we took some time to sample Andalusian Asparagus, which essentially meant steamed chilled asparagus arranged in a very fancy manner and drizzled with an orange sauce whose ingredients shall remain a mystery.
Next they brought out a Chicken Pepitoria which hands down was the most delicious piece of chicken/chicken dish that I have ever eaten in my life. It was like eating chunks of heaven off of my fork. The final dish was Roast Leg of Lamb drizzled in the most fabulously complementing sauce they could have possilby found. It was the first time that I have ever had lamb, and it was an excellent first impression.
With all of the entres brought forward, nothing was preventing the most heavenly of chocolate mousse topped with a tower of whipped cream and rasperries, from making its way to my place setting. What a way to finish a meal of that magnitude. If only I would have had my camera because not only did it taste magnificent, but it was presented in a way one might experience at a four or five star restaurant. It was imaculate... I'll make sure I bring my camera to the next one :)
To underscore the awesome spread of food, the real point of the evening was to get to know others from our College and Careers group. Arriving at 7:30 and not starting the meal till 8:30 and then eating around a table with these people until 11:30 at night! I definitely was encouraged and gave encouragement and got to know some of them a lot better. I think that is part of the point of "fellowship" between believers... what I would give to share a meal with all my friends again. I love you all, and if anyone is reading this and wants to come meet some awesome people and share in some awesome worship and hear the awesome Word of God on Wednesday night... call me or something because if you start coming you'll have a very legitimate reason to take part in the next "Dinner for Twenty". Have a great week.

S-double-rubble

Affirmation

2006-03-01T19:01:00.000-08:00

I love this song. It's like clear cool refreshment running through my head as I endure a withering assault from the mouths of others in my workplace.

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

Death by Extension Cord

2006-02-27T16:52:00.000-08:00

I've been getting a little bit frustrated lately and I will tell you why. At my jobsite we are currently framing a large, multi-residence structure. As it happens, a number of corded tools are necissary for this venture. Skill saws, sawzalls, nail guns, hammer drills, and grinders in bountiful quantities. Some need power, some need air, but all have either a hose or a cord attached to them and then running off to some distant object of provision.
Spending all of this time surrounded by these inanimate snakes has brought me to the startling discovery of what has now become Reimer's First Law of Extension Cords: Anything that can be snagged will be snagged. This I have personally proven on multiple occasions to be a constant Law at work in a number of different environments. Objects including but not limited to nails, chunks of concrete, other cords, random objects that you never even knew existed until you caught an extension cord on them, are all readily snagged at any and every available point in time.
However, after submitting my first theory to the board of Extension Cord Sciences to be tested and scrutinized, I began formulating a second theory directly hinged on the first. This will hopefully become Reimer's Second Law of Extension Cords: Anything that has become snagged will not become unsnagged unless the direct reversal of the original direction of travel has been achieved. This theory of course, only comes into play once the first law has already been implemented. The application of this theory is what really allows my frustration to mature in full. You see, the moment Reimer's First Law of Extension Cords rears its ugly head, I know that the second Law is not far behind. I will have to spend valuable time searching for the origin of the snag, which once found often requires more time to strategize how to go about fixing what can quickly become an extension cord fiasco.
Sometimes, as one who is frequently subjected to these laws of the Physical world, I will encounter multiple instances of Reimer's First Law even within the span of a minute. If you are one to become easily angered, I would encourage you to start working with extension cords and allow the Holy Spirit to give you strength in your weakness :) Good times all around.

Catering to Beimers... and everyone else I left in the dark

2006-02-12T22:21:00.000-08:00

I was hired by the City of Surrey as a Guide in the Outdoor Services "arm" of their Parks and Recreation "branch". So that includes doing everything from hiking, to snowshoeing, to rock climbing, to kayaking, to canoeing, to mountain biking, to planning programs and working on administrative stuff. It is mostly evenings and weekends so I'm currently still shopping around for full time day work... and tonight I had a little chat with my summer foreman and he finally has some room at one of his sites. So on tuesday I'll start work with Tom and hopefully that will keep me occupied until I start instructing canoeing five days a week for the City of Burnaby Parks and Rec (a job which I haven't fully sealed but getting closer). I will be doing the Surrey job all-the-while on the occasional evening and Saturday. After canoeing is done in June, I hope to begin work for camp Madawaska which would be a sweet set-up. I would be working Monday through Thursday all summer making a very good wage and teaching kids canoeing, going on nature walks, teaching them to chop firewood, cook outside, leading them in campfire games and songs, and just being a group leader. On Thursday, the overtime that I would work would pay as though I'd work friday, but I don't... I would get a three day weekend every weekend. So then if I wanted I could jump into a couple days of labour work... or keep helping out Surrey on the weekends and evenings. So that's the short version... and largely speculative at this point, but hopeful. Whether it works out or not, the only place you'll find me is seeking to do God's will in my life.
I hope that sufices, Beimers.

First Day at the Office

2006-02-11T21:22:00.000-08:00

These mountains mark the 49th parrallel.

Baker in a shabby impression of the splendour of God.
It was pretty much a gorgeous day.

This isn't a good picture of the view... because we could see Harrison Lake tucked in behind that first ridge.

Thus began the saga of Stewart Reimer in the employment of the City of Surrey. Snowshoeing at Hemlock Resort... and getting paid? Who knew? I pretty much spent the day showing off my knowledge of our natural surroundings... and snowshoeing.

Ahh the Profound Minds

2006-02-08T21:37:00.000-08:00

I've been reading Philip Yancey's "Reaching for the Invisible God" and I came across some noteworthy quotes:

C.S. Lewis setting out the clear way to promote God's absence- "Avoid silence, avoid solitude, avoid any train of thought that leads off the beaten track. Concentrate on money, sex, status, health and (above all) on your own grievances. Keep the radio on. Live in a crowd. Use plenty of sedation. If you must read books, select them very carefully. But you'd be safer to stick to the papers. You'll find the advertisements helpful; especially those with a sexy or a snobbish appeal."

Augustine expressing the paradox of the omnipotent God and Jesus – "Man's maker was made man that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother's breast; that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on its journey; that Truth might be accused of false witnesses, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow weak; that the Healer might be wounded; that Life may die."

Yancey recalls how his Japanese Christian friends negate the American Missionaries familiar approach to God- “We know how to come to God as humble servants with boldness. You don’t have to tell Japanese people about hierarchy. When they learn that God is the Lord they immediately know all the implications of that. They know who’s boss and that is never questioned. When they pray they use language that combines the highest forms of speech and the most intimate phrases of love and devotion. When they ask for something they ask with true humility, knowing they have no right to what they’re asking except that God gives them the very right to ask and promises to answer.”

Yancey – “I cannot learn from Jesus why bad things occur – why an avalanche or flood decimates one town and not its neighbor, why leukemia strikes one child and not another – but I can surely learn how God feels about such tragedies. I simply look at how Jesus responds to the sisters of his good friend Lazarus, to a widow who has just lost her son, or a leprosy victim banned outside the town gates. Jesus gives God a face, and that face is streaked with tears… if we doubt God, or find him incomprehensible, unknowable, the very best cure is to gaze steadily at Jesus, the Rosetta stone of faith.”

Actually the whole book is noteworthy (so far). I'll let you know if that changes...

Winner of "The Most Touching Performance of the Year"

2006-02-08T19:34:00.000-08:00

I think Billy Boyd should get an Oscar for his vocal in "the Return of the King". Just a personal opinion... maybe that's because I'm listening to it right now and want to cry :)

I heard a woman speak today at the FVCH chapel who works in the Jacob's Well mission in Downtown Vancouver. She told us that she originally thought that by befriending the 16,000 drug addicted people in the neighborhood surrounding Main and Hastings, that she would be Jesus to those people. She then shared with us Matthew 25:37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' "
She realized that those drug addicted people are actually Jesus to her. That when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was he replied, "To Love the Lord your God with all your heart and to Love your Neighbor as yourself". Then an expert in the law needed him to clarify who your neighbor is so Jesus graces him with a response in the form of a parable. It was the parable of the Good Samaritan.
This woman challenged us to change the world... it seems like everyone is doing that now-a-days... which is not at all a bad thing. She said because we were young that we had a head start on her in practicing James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Aside from mother Teresa, this woman told of her mentor, an old 90 year old lady who after becoming a Christian late in life, spent then till now befriending the drug addicted community of Vancouver. She would walk down the street and as drugs were being handed off for money, this feeble old lady would place her hand on theirs and say, "Now boys, God has something so much better for the two of you." They would then proceed to open up to her about their day and what brought them to this point of going out for drugs again. Then they would ASK her to pray for them! She new everyone in the community by name and they new her name. She has spent her life serving Jesus very literally.
When she was done speaking my heart was heavy, but I couldn't help rejoicing for the life of this old woman and the ministry that she inspired.

Oh the Possibilities

2006-02-03T15:22:00.000-08:00

Over the past month I've really been prodding at a couple of different opportunities to get plugged into some employment in the field of Outdoor Recreation. Currently none of them are 100% and half of the positions I applied for didn't come with a description of what kind of position they really were, so I'm a little bit in the dark. However, on Wednesday I had an interview with a couple of "Outdoor Services Programmers" from the city of Surrey. The first peculiarity was the fact that they wanted me to come from 1:00-2:00. Now I'm not a particularly well traveled interviewee, but I think an hour is a long time to sit in a room and answer questions and therefore I was a little bit more concerned about this interview than I would have been originally. My mind's in overdrive and I'm thinking how they might be getting me to do a skill assessment or something scary like that.
I get there, I sit down and I answered their questions for an hour! Sometimes fairly uncomfortably on my part but they were really good about it and I think they really liked me. I even got to tell them both about what you do when you see a bear or a cougar. Then as I'm leaving they go and tell me that they'd hopefully get back to me in a couple of weeks! So right away I'm thinking, "Crap! There goes that opportunity". Today (Friday) I get a phone call. It's the Scott from the City of Surrey wondering if I can get a criminal record check so that "we" can proceed to the next stage of the "process". It was all very secretive so when I met him I asked him exactly what that next stage would be. He told me with a smirk that he wasn't allowed to tell me! I found that kinda funny/frustrating. Anyhow, I got my criminal record check done (didn't even have to pay for it!) and now I guess I'm waiting for "the next stage" to commence. Goodness gracious. Can't a man just get a straight answer?
Hope all your mid-terms are going well.

Happy Birthday Mom

2006-01-28T22:26:00.000-08:00

*awww, what a cutie : )
Today ma mere celebrated a modestly middle-aged birthday by working a twelve hour day-shift on the Labor and Delivery ward at Burnaby General Hospital. I spoke to her on the phone before she came home and she confessed that there had been few patients and that the excitement of her shift might be compared to watching paint dry. She missed all of her loved-one's phone calls (including her mom from Hawaii and Trilby from Portugal), and she missed her only sister stopping by to bring her flowers and a birthday card!
So I set to work, frantically attempting to salvage her day by doing something special for her when she came home. I called her at work notifying her that she shouldn't eat dinner as we were going to share a meal with her when she got home (something that never happens when she works days). Rooting through the freezer I found a beautiful slab of once fresh, Atlantic salmon, the beginnings of a glorious five star meal. After a painfully slow cold-water defrost, I had collected everything I would need for garnish, but still did not have a sauce! After pouring through several recipe books I arrived at a basic alfredo sauce with which there was room for improvement. I ran out, grabbed some parmesan cheese and cream, and was set to go to work.
I chopped my dill, sliced my lemon, threw them on the salmon, drizzled it with lemon juice and popped her into the toasty barbeque. As that was nearing completion I mixed and heated my creamy alfredo sauce, grilling a couple skewers of garlic marinated shrimp to toss into the mix. Arranging some parsley and orange slices on her China plates (for special occasions only) I prepared them to accent the coming feast.
With the salmon finished, I cut it into large portions, placed them on the garnished plates and covered them with my succulent, shrimp-alfredo sauce, poured the sparkling pear juice into crystal glasses and, after thanking the Lord for such a spread and such a mother, we delighted our long tortured taste-buds.
Just when everyone thought it was over, I reached into the oven and pulled out a cranberry, apple and brie filled puff pastry for dessert. It was divine. Then I cleaned it all up… I think she enjoyed that part even more : ).
So mom, if you’re out there: I love you.

Trilby in Portugal

2006-01-27T11:04:00.000-08:00

As many of you know Trilby is in Portugal on a missions trip with a program called TREK. They are doing well as they have a host of prayer behind them. Here are some beautiful pictures that she has posted on her www.photobucket.com account. If you want to see the rest her username is trilbs and her password is portugal.

Hearing the Voice, Knowing the Voice

2006-01-24T16:12:00.000-08:00

Dear friends and strangers, My highschool, Fraser Valley Christian High School(http://www.fvchs.bc.ca/ - click the side bar that says "Campaign"), has grasped the opportunity to help those who are in need. The school's principal, Dennis deGroot, has been to Sierra Leone a few times in the past couple years where he has found a needy community where our school (along with Surrey Christian School) will build an elementary school for just $25,000 CAN. The vice-principal of Fraser Valley, Matthew Beimers(http://www.pacificgrace.blogspot.com/ - blog titled "Help Build A School For Nyima" ) has more information and and idea of what this project is all about. Any donation to this cause would be much appreciated...100% of the funds goes towards building the school and helping a community of fellow believers who don't have as good as we do. I'd encourage you to check out the high school's website, along with Beimer's blog. God bless.

I apologize for my plagerism Dan : )

My Afternoon Sojourn

2006-01-22T16:36:00.000-08:00

Today I took an afternoon sojourn through the misty Fraser Glen air, to the pond that furnishes my neighbourhood with our very own collection of ducks... or should I say waterfowl? I spotted what I thought to be several very exotic looking species of duck... just goes to show you what you miss when you aren't paying attention. Among my ID's were the Wood Duck and the Hooded Merganser. It'd be well worth plugging those names into google and sharing their beauty with me. While I was there however, I noticed the stunning state of the evening sky on the ever unreachable horizon. It was amazing and I had my camera. I hope it makes you all smile.

Drip-Drop, Rat-Tat, Thrum, Sploosh... Rain

2006-01-21T13:03:00.001-08:00

For those of you outside of our beautiful little oasis of the Lower Mainland, this day marks, according to my count, the approximate 40th day of rain that has blessed our land. I believe that there was one day where it didn't rain in there somewhere so that we have not set any consecutive days of rainfall records, which in a sadistic way is slightly unfortunate.
Today I ran. Today choosing to see the beauty and freshness of the rainfall, I donned some synthetic clothing and ran. It was glorious. I saw the beginnings of spring, green shoots poking out of all the flower beds. I heard the Northern Flicker, the Black Capped Chickadees, the Red Winged Blackbirds, Stellar's Jays and the Spotted Towhees and those are just the ones I could identify. Air that is surrounded with that much water is so very revitalizing and pure. The thought that sits in my mind is how great is our God? Despite the sin that is so prevalent here on our Earth, He has given us a tinted window into his splendor. It seems powerful to me what I have seen of God through his creation but this takes my thoughts to when this window passes away and we stand before the true glory of his splendor. What power shall we see then?
I can only imagine what it will be like, when I walk by His side. I can only imagine, what my eyes will see, when His Face is before me! I can only imagine. Surrounded by God's Glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still? Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing 'Hallelujah!'? Will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine, when that day comes, and I find myself standing in the Son! I can only imagine, when all I will do, is forever, forever worship You! I can only imagine.
Thanks to "Mercy Me" for that beautiful song. Personally, I think my imagination (as creative as it is) is useless to come up with what I would do in the presence of God. I don't even think my knees would hold me up...

Even in the rain, the Son is shining.

Psalm 119... continued

2006-01-20T10:05:00.000-08:00

At my College and Career group meeting at church, Pastor Ezra pointed to a passage I found perticularly pertinent to my life and experiences. It was both an affirmation of what I knew to be true, as well as an encouragement to persevere in founding my life on the Word of God.
Psalm 119:9-16

9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, O LORD;
teach me your decrees.
13 With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.

Blood That Never Fails... always thought that was a pretty lame song

2006-01-17T19:23:00.000-08:00

One time Jesus told me that in this world I would have trouble, but that I can be comforted even in those times because He has overcome the world! I don't know about you all, but my life has been far from a cake walk. I've tripped and fallen on my face in the filth of this world on so many different occasions and yet there has never once been a time when Jesus Christ did not wash me in his blood and set me back on my feet. But how is it possible to still feel like Christ wants a relationship with me when I disappoint him at every turn? I think that if it was up to me I would eventually forget that this is the case and convince myself that God had given up on me. Luckily God has not left it up to me, in fact God has told me exactly what I need to hear in those situations:
II Samuel 14:14 "But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him."
Psalm 130
3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared...
7 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
I Corinthians 6:11 "Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
Romans 8:1-2
"1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."
Psalm 103
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

God spoke these words into my life. I needed to share them with you all. Remember always that "the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." By dwelling on God-breathed words we give our lives to him to teach us, rebuke us, correct us and train us to be more like Jesus Christ. Amen.

119

2006-01-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

Psalm 119:1-8
Aleph
1 Blessed are they whose ways are blameless,
who walk according to the law of the LORD.
2 Blessed are they who keep his statutes
and seek him with all their heart.
3 They do nothing wrong;
they walk in his ways.
4 You have laid down precepts
that are to be fully obeyed.
5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast
in obeying your decrees!
6 Then I would not be put to shame
when I consider all your commands.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart
as I learn your righteous laws.
8 I will obey your decrees;
do not utterly forsake me.

What blessings we recieve by holding fast to the law of God, to his every command and instruction!

I'm a Fan

2006-01-11T18:36:00.000-08:00

Ok this is a little shout-out to mon mere, who is currently in the middle of working five, 12 hour night shifts in six days! I tell ya, that's a woman straight out of Proverbs 31. Love ya mom. You rocked my world about 18 years ago and you've been a blessing ever since. Keep truckin.

Ultrasound?

2006-01-11T18:12:00.000-08:00

Most probably won't remember the tale in one of my september blogs where I injured my shoulder during my first Rock Climbing course. Anyhow, being of the male half of our species, I neglected a visit to the doctor's office to find out what really went on and what I was more avoiding, the dreaded instruction to not perform any physical activity using my shoulder until it was healed. So here it is January and I went to visit my doctor because I was still feeling pain in my shoulder. He sent me for x-rays thinking that it was a damaged ligament from a partial seperation. The x-rays came back showing nothing of the sort. He then recommended me to an Ultrasound clinic! After assuring him that I wasn't pregnant, nevermind sexually active, he assured me that pregnant women aren't the only ones who get ultrasounds.
Today I proved that fact. After waiting in the little room next to a really big computer for the doctor, he came in and ordered me to remove my shirt and sit in that funky meditation position so that both my shoulders were the same way. Then he picks up this little scanning orb that's attached to the computer by a white cable and douses it in this blue gel. Expecting the startling cold of the gel against my skin, I was pleasantly surprised when it was warm! He then replaced the bottle of gel in the little warming box with the other two bottles and turned some knobs on the machine. There was a depth knob, a Hz knob, a picture taking button (for when he saw something of interest come across the viewing monitor) and many others that he didn't use.
So he sat there for about 10-15 minutes scanning both my shoulders, putting my arms in different positions and applying lots lots more of the blue gel before telling me that he couldn't see anything wrong with my shoulder and that I should minimize the activity that I put it through while it heals.
I must admit I was a little disappointed, but I guess the fact that I hadn't torn anything or ended up with a pinched rotator cuff or anything of the sort is good news. After all's said and done, I think that I can say I'm the first guy I know to have had an ultrasound, "AND I WILL TAKE THAT TO THE GRAVE WITH ME!!!" : )

Some Christmas Pictures

2006-01-11T14:50:00.000-08:00

So Christmas Holiday was great fun. Here are some quality people pictures. Enjoy!

John and Neil looking sexy as usual.

John and I debate his hedonistic worldview while Chris and Jackie listen intently :)

This is classic! Bringing it back to rainy lunch hours at SCMS with intense Dutch Blitz contests.

Ashley and Lynn... smiling.

Speed Scrabble where Lynn took things a little personal... and I cheated horribly :)

Joel and Ashley practicing their sexy pout faces :)

Kim... Lynn's good twin :)

Andrew GORDON Bucholtz

Look at that beautiful beard!

Super Smiley Stewart

Super Smiley Ashley

Ashley and Me :) Yay!

Home of the Falcons

2006-01-10T14:05:00.000-08:00

Today was my first day of volunteer work back in the old community of Fraser Valley. Some how I got in contact with Shannon Friesen in the Learning Assistance department a while ago and she mentioned to me that they have been a little short staffed this year. I decided to start a part time volunteer position helping the kids in the LA room of Fraser Valley achieve their goals. As it happened, I had the privilidge of working with Gordon Kelly this morning and I can't tell you how exciting that was. I just couldn't stop smiling. The antics, the questions, the comments about Ashley Jansen and his beard, it was Gordon Kelly Live in the LA room.
Anyway, Gordon is only one of the absolutely fabulous kids that I get to share my day with. I don't doubt that it will be challenging, it has been already, but I'm confident that I can make a difference in each of those kids' lives.
Oh and there was a chapel today and who knew that Josh Gagne could sing? It was almost angelic :) He's an excellent fill in for Klams... I guess he was taught by the best eh?

Happy Birthday Ashley!

2006-01-08T00:29:00.000-08:00

This is a special day... because 19 years ago on this day Ashley Joy Jansen was born. Awww what a cutie. So to commemorate this glorious occasion I thought I'd make a birthday cake for you Ashley, but you're going to have to share it with everyone. If anyone wants to take part in the Ashley Jansen Birthday celebration on my blog, please leave a comment and have a piece of virtual birthday cake : ) Love ya sis.

Your pal, Stewart

The Essential Question

2006-01-06T20:25:00.000-08:00

How many big men does it take to bring down Dan Brouwer?

The obvious answer: A whole lot more than two... unless you get him laughing and don't play fair :)

Reimer Sushi Palace

2006-01-06T19:35:00.000-08:00

So this evening, prompted by a love of the Japanese cuisine, a couple of sushi kit Christmas presents and a sushi recipe book, the Reimer house was transformed into the Reimer Sushi Palace. So after about 3 hours of slow and painful attention to every aesthetic element my parents and I had created quite a diverse menu.
I don't exactly know all of the technical names but I do know what they had in them :)
Here's was the final spread:
California Rolls- crab meat
BC Rolls- bbq'd salmon skin
Nigiri- Jumbo shrimp or Tuna or Salmon
Smoked Salmon rolls
Teriyaki Beef rolls
Salmon Rolls
Seasoned Fish Roe
Some of these rolls are garnished with any of: avacado, cucumber, mayo, wasabi, carrot, toasted sesame seeds and/or fish roe

We somehow managed to pick ups some extra potent wasabi paste which ended in a few moments when I was doubtful I'd be leaving the dinner table. It was all very delicious, though we couldn't eat even half of what we ended up with! After that picture was taken almost all of that was devoured and then we made about the same amount again... I heard sushi doesn't keep very well... so does any one enjoy sushi? C'mon over tonight or tomorrow and help yourself.
Just thought I'd share the experience.

PS. the picture is clear if you click on it... don't know why...

Point of Interest

2006-01-06T09:54:00.000-08:00

This blog is worth a quick browse for anyone interested. http://walkingwiththetruth.blogspot.com/

Blessed Middle Names

2006-01-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

I don't know a very many middle names... if I got yours wrong or didn't get it and you want to let me know or if you just want to yell at me for posting your "embarrassing" middle name on my blog, leave a comment :)

Stewart Darrell Vincent Reimer
Kira Nicole Aber McCourt
Joel Derek Bron
Daniel Mark Brouwer
James Glenn Harskamp
Ashley Joy Jansen
David Elsie Vanhofwegen
Adam "Suave" Herman
Adrienne Michelle Kastelien
Andrew "Da-Boosh" Gordon Buccholtz
David Ronald Peters
Aaron David Wall
Jeffery Charles Gerber
Patricia Louise Chapman
John "I'm Asian" Kim
Daniel Harmen Dejong
Amanda Lise Reimer
Maisie Joy Reimer
Trilby Leane Reimer
Elizabeth "huggaholic" Shaughnessy :)
Matthew "four daughters and one bathroom" Beimers

I'll tell you what if you leave your middle name(s) in a comment on my blog, I'll update it and add you to my prestigious list of middle names that I know! sweet deal eh?

Sabbatical

2006-01-04T11:34:00.000-08:00

So I unofficially took a sabbatical from blogging over Christmas vacation in favour of spending my time on friends and family. After eating a delightful total of four special Christmas meals (one Chinese, two turkey and one faspa {it's a German Menno thing... in honor of John Kim I will define it as: a barbarian feast of cold meats, cheese, crackers and whatever else is handy}) I'm plumped up enough to allow this keyboard to flow freely once again.
One thing that was kinda wierd about this Christmas was the lack in the area of an older sister. As some of you may know, Trilby is currently away on seven months of mission work on a team of four (Steve, Gatim, Dylan and her) in Massama, Portugal. This in itself if fairly exciting, but it did mean that she wasn't home for Christmas and that was kinda sad. She called us on Christmas morning and we got to chat with her for about a half an hour before she had to go.
I think that the best gift I recieved this Christmas (aside from the obvious swaddling wrapped one) was the fact that I got to see all my friends again. Never has that been such a treat as it was this year. Friendships are as delicate and precious as gemstones. Neglect and gossip are like polishing your gemstones with a hammer. Sometimes you dust off a gem and you remember how beautiful it really is. It's not the look or the quantity that matters but the quality and value. Okay enough analogy. "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24
Among the many things I got to do over Christmas were:
-go ice skating at the "magical" cloverdale ice palace
-spend time with the relatives
-gorge myself
-straight up enjoy the companionship of friends
-film a ridiculous video/sell my body to magnum productions :)
-play basketball?
-watch Bronny take two fouls in two minutes in a basketball game
-call some handy plays in the FVC seniors vs old timers vball game
-spend lots of money unselfishly
-watch Scrubs and laugh hysterically with my friends
-remember that I'm a sinner and how much Jesus means to me
-love every minute of it

I guess that'll do for now. love you all.

Finished

2005-12-13T15:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm a certified Wilderness First Responder and therefore I have officially completed the Wilderness Leadership Program at Capilano College here in Squamish. After marking our First Aid written exams we headed off to the Howe Sound Brewery Pub and Restaurant where we had a room rented for us so that we could have a small farewell. Four of the girls from our program made an interpretive dance which the performed for us all. It cleverly incorperated all the different skills that we'd all learned throughout the program and did it in such a way that the entire room was in stitches on the floor laughing. My good buddy Pat Humer then played a Pictoral DVD that he'd spent many many hours creating when he should have been studying first aid. It was very touching and happy and emotional; a very good way to say goodbye. We presented our loving instructors with some gift certificates on behalf of us all and thanked them for their efforts and enthousiasm. The proceedings then moved to Boston Pizza where some people spent a lot of money on food while the more intelligent ones (like Dan and I) ate before we got there and then spent zero dollars on the water that we drank :) It was there that we enjoyed eachother's company for one last time before people would begin to forget everything else which happened that night at the Grizzly Pub.
I had a great time despite other's intoxication. There is something very friendly and philosophical about people with a couple of brewskies in them. All in all it was a night to for me to remember forever. And now I go to say goodby to all of those lovely folk... definitely not for good though.

I hope you all have equally lovely farewells and equal or better success in your finals.

Sincerely, Stewart Reimer

Toasters

2005-12-08T12:39:00.000-08:00

Toasters is one of many priceless gems that can be found in the little town of Squamish BC. On three seperate occasions I have found this pleasant, hole-in-the-wall, breakfast restaurant to be most satisfactory in several regards. First of all, when visiting toasters you are generally surrounded by friends whom you love. Maybe it is after a party the night before when laughter arises from some past hilarity. Or maybe it's the morning after a big exam day when everyone is relieved and loose, ready to share a great time with eachother. Whoever the company, the second element to the success is the food. Toasters furnishes your plate with four slices of homemade toast, two eggs however you want them, four slices of bacon, and the rest of your plate loaded with fresh hashbrowns made from nugget potatoes. After your finished and maybe you're looking for a challenge, the owner of the restaurant offers unlimited toast to all customers. It truly is delicious. So you say how much does it cost? Well tax included, a whopping breakfast like that is under $7.50, a well earned price for the experience.
Just one word of warning: beware of the grumpy waitress :) It's actually quite comical.
So next time you're in Squamish and you pass the T-Ho's, jump on over behind the Holiday Inn and discover Toasters. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

2005-12-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

Wilderness First Aid is the greatest thing in the world. There is nothing better than learning something that you know full well will benefit someone else. It is very empowering and I hope you all have a chance to do it some day.

So a couple of days ago I was on top of Mt. Seymour with Dan Dejong and the view as the sun was going down below the clouds was amazing. So I pulled out my camera and saved the moment for the benefit of everyone who reads this blog. Here are the pictures:

Note the raven flying through the picture... ultra cool :)

In the words of Chris Martin, "we live in a beautiful world".

Almost There...

2005-12-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

Just one last paper to write! I'm so very excited. All I have to do after that is ace Wilderness First Aid and Christmas is mine! However that means saying goodbye to 28 friends which will be pretty sad. That makes me think of Jodi Austin. Saying goodbye to her was the saddest thing in the world. I wish that I could see her again. What an amazing person.
My goodness, I feel as though I haven't a clue how my friends are despite all this blog business. I want to sit down with all of you guys with some chai tea and have some time just to catch up. I think we should do that... It really was James' idea so I won't take the credit but if wine and cigars don't work out I suggest chai tea and a bunch of couches or cushions and pillows like the ancients and the Japanese. We can have some genuine conversation and perhaps hold hands and pray. It would be Koinania... fellowship. Maybe we could even share the Lord's Supper and remember that we're all sinners and how grateful we are for the blood of Christ. That's what I feel like right now. I feel like I have all of this love pent up waiting for you guys to come home so that I can unload on you.
...maybe I'll make cinnamon buns.

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree...

2005-11-29T21:24:00.000-08:00

Man oh man Christmas is here. Although we haven't done anything exotic like decorating our rooms, Dejong and I have been rocking to Amy Grant's Christmas album for the last week or so. Then the long awaited snow appeared in the night sky over Britania Beach. It was perfect. I absolutely love the way that snow mutes all the usual sounds around you so that you can hear the snowflakes landing on your jacket. I love the feeling of a sore neck after five minutes of running around catching snowflakes in my mouth. I love how snow covers a fairly ugly row of houses to make them seem quaint and homey with smoke curling out of their chimneys to tell you just how warm they are inside. I love how much better Chai tea (with extra cinnamon sprinkled on top) tastes when there is snow outside. Snow must sharpen the senses...

Snow makes me think of Jesus Christ's forgiveness covering up my ugliness.

Driving in snow is a little hairy sometimes but it's also cool... especially at night on the #99 (aka the highway of death). It's all very dark around you but for the brilliant headlights reflecting off the snowflakes in front of you. You feel very much in the palm of God's hand. When it's dark like that is the only time you can actually see the wind. You can see the currents and the gusts as the snow increases in speed and changes directions constantly. It makes you feel quiet.

Here are a couple of pictures I took of Howe Sound in the snow on the way home.

August 18th I think...

2005-11-28T13:18:00.000-08:00

This was a blog that I wrote during the summer sometime. I'm sorry I didn't post it then but I did now... maybe that's better than never.

So we recently spent two days slaving away in various alpine classrooms around the Squamish area. Thursday was spent hiking up onto Paul Ridge in Garibaldi Provincial Park in order to do some orienteering and topographical map work while having an astounding view of the panorama displayed in various contour lines and colors on our two dimensional maps. We also had a “homework assignment” to prepare a meal and cook it for another group on that day. Our recipe (cleverly titled “The Soup de Jour” in honor of Lloyd Christmas) was a fabrication of a delicious soup elements, served with peanut butter on Stoned Wheat crackers as an appetizer and instant pudding with dehydrated milk… which ended up both tasting and looking like warm lumpy poo. The next day we hiked a trail around the Brohm Lake area which brought us to a fantastic viewpoint looking out over the Tantalus Mountain Range. At this point we were able identify all the peaks displayed in front of us and pinpoint our exact location on the map using triangulation (big word… simple concept). We were then treated to the meal from the two ladies that we had cooked for the previous day, and judging by the excitable mélange of flavours that entered my mouth that afternoon, they hadn’t held the poopy pudding against us. We finished off class on Friday with a long swim in Brohm lake.

Friday night Dan and I went camping with 20 of our new comrades to celebrate Jesse’s birthday. He was turning 23 so apparently that’s an excuse for lots of beer. So we all set up tents and got a fire pit made by the Squamish River (we originally planned to camp on the Cheakamus River but le disaster de les toxins caused a change in plan). That’s when Dan and I got the brilliant idea to go rafting down the Squamish River in a cheap plastic dingy!!! It was sweet. We pretty much rode the bottom of the river with our butts the whole way down the stretch that we piloted. But I’d say that foot deep water threw some beauty class IV’s :) So by then the consumption of alcohol was fully under way so I grabbed myself a Coke and sat back for a deep discussion with Patrick (a new friend of mine) and with Nick (another new friend) who are both very friendly with a beer in their hand and are not in the habit of drunkenness. Patrick’s beautiful camperized VW Westphalia Van had just randomly caught on fire while he was driving it and burned to a complete crisp before his eyes. We talked about everything and anything and I quite admire him but long to share with him the good news about Christ. Nick is the child of missionary parents who never really had faith in Jesus Christ but knows all about him. He said that his doubts overtook whatever it was that he did believe and he’d walked away from faith. This makes me sad but also hopeful because I totally believe that I’ll have a chance to share the root of my joy and contentment with both of these guys.

I said goodbye to a good friend on Saturday. I’ve known Daniel Brouwer for about 13 years now (maybe 14) and seen him practically every year during that time span, but from this point on he’s going to be in Edmonton freezing his buns off working on a Biology major. Dan’s the kind of quality guy that I think every girl and guy should look for. He’s patient and kind and full of love… although if you’re a guy, you might not want to experiment too too much with the love part cause you might end up with a sore shoulder. Dan and I used to have an unofficial competition during our club soccer for who could hammer guys the hardest during a fair tackle... I don’t think that I would ever want to go into a tackle against Dan, but maybe in the past our muscle masses were a little closer to even.

I guess that was it...

My Apologies

2005-11-25T12:56:00.000-08:00

To all the students at Cap College in Squamish who had hoped to write in their blogs during their break, I apologize that you have been redirected here. It's not my fault honestly. Kate especially, I'm sorry for all the trauma that you've endured :) I hope they get the network updated or something and we can all go back to our own little blog lives.

Sincerely Stewart Reimer of the WLP

Using Freedom

2005-11-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

If we Christians are content to remain in our sin (I'm not refering to times when we screw up, I'm talking about acknowledging that what we're doing is sin and then living that life regardless), we need to hear what God said to us through Paul:

"13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature[a]; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."[b] 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Life by the Spirit
16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."
Galatians 5:13-25

You see I know from experience that living content in sin is the most empty, unfulfilling, harmful, and (afterwards) grieving exprience. We are people who were called from the darkness into the light. Jesus Christ did not die so that we could acknowledge his act of ultimate love for us by carrying on in our sin. He died to give us access to His Kingdom and he left us His Spirit so that we could have every means to righteousness (or right living). There is a life waiting for us far more gratifying than getting drunk, filling our minds with pornography, throwing out the perfection of sex within marriage, aspiring to be rich or powerful, hating our enemies, slandering our friends and opposition, wanting what we don't have and looking to things other than God to fill our lives with contentment. There is a fullness of life in Jesus Christ that is unparalleled in the universe!!! If you're saying to yourself, "How on earth could you know that Stew?" read the words of God and you'll find out in a mighty big hurry. For example, in the book of Ecclesiastes you will find that the Solomon (possible author) did a far-out, little experiment where he indulged in everything the world had to offer and do you know what conclusion he arrived at?
" Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil." Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

God extends his grace and his mercy and his forgiveness without fail, but if we do not want his grace and his mercy and his forgiveness he will not force it on us.

Heed the wisdom of Solomon. Listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said,"10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that [YOU] may have life, and have it to the full!!!" John 10:10.

Thirsty? Come and drink the living water.

Unexpected Surprises... (As Opposed to the Expected Variety)

2005-11-16T12:37:00.000-08:00

This past week I had the great pleasure of being off school. I went home with little to do besides make breakfast for my sisters, read, and catch up with friends and family. I was actually able to go to the worship service for the "college and career" group at my church and it was awesome. It was the first time I'd been able to attend a non-sunday church event in quite sometime. So I saw great people like Aaron Wall and Joel Vanhove and we formulated a plan (which included Adam Herman) to go for a hike. What a great plan it was, not in magnitude but in simplicity for that is indeed where the greatest plans reside. The next day we set out after classes were done to Chilliwack. We found Chilliwack Lake Road about the time that darkness fell... and lots of rain but we were not at all dismayed and spirits remained high. After about a good half hour of driving up and down the same logging road looking for a trail access that we knew existed somewhere, we saw a man walking his dog. He was a kind enough soul to direct us into the vacinity of the trailhead (alright I'm not gonna lie, the guy was about six kilometers off in his directions but he did help us in the end because he mentioned something about a bridge over Pierce Creek).
So we found pierce creek and blundered around it trying to find what might be the nearby road that led to the trailhead. Needless to say we picked the wrong road and started up it without a moment's hesitation, packs in tow. Reaching the top of this unbelievably steep road and a dead end/river crossing, we turned around and headed down the same road to take our second wrong turn of the evening. After aproximately an hour and a half of surprisingly dry, moonlit, misdirected, night-time travel we found ourselves right back where we started. We piched our tents beside the truck, cooked dinner, had a fire and an all around good time not alowing our recent follies to get us down, for surely tomorrow brought a new day and a fresh start... with daylight.
We awoke bright and chipper. Packed up, left what we didn't need in the truck and set out with not but our daypacks around our waists. We found a path that would surely direct us to the trailhead and followed it faithfully until we reached a clearing. It was then, not investigating the full perameter of the clearing that we made our biggest blunder in assuming the trail ran beside the creek. Running with this haunch, we walked along the creekside which seemed like moderately good travel at the time but slowly digressed into moderate bushwacking. Time passed and the trail was nowhere to be seen. Using my plethora of map and compass knowledge we deduced how we should be able to find the trail as it intersected the Creek further along. However, we began second-guessing ourselves, Aaron's torn miniscus started acting up (what a wimp), and according to Adam we were "lost". All of these things contributed to our decision to turn around and head home but it is now in retrospect that God may have also played a small role in this course of events.
You see arriving back at home my family was busy cleaning in preparation for my Aunt and Uncle's visit from Calgary. This was an occasion that I was supposed to arrive just in time for (but probably would have missed entirely) had our adventure gone according to plan. However now I was back several hours early. That is when my day to a turn for probably the very best it ever could have. You see expecting my families arrival a knock on my front door did not even stir me to my feet. However, my dad's words, "We certainly weren't expecting you here," ignited my curiosity. Innocently I arose to inspect the scene. Ashley Jansen was standing in my front doorway. The feeling of embracing a friend whom you have been starved from for three months is irreplaceable. It can't be explained with words because it is the best. I didn't stop smiling for about two days. What made it even better was that she had explicitly told me that she wouldn't be coming home over Rememberance Day because her Volleyball coach had certain issues with family oriented individuals.
The next day I got to see even more of my friends whom I've been long separated from. I think I got too overloaded with excitement. It was pretty overwhelming. I could have spent an entire day with each of those people getting to know what they've been up to and hearing their stories but there was no time. I left the party with a smile on my face none the less.
Surprises like that bring joy to my little life :)