"CAN I HAVE YOUR POSTAL CODE PLEASE?"


At work before we are given the total amount for the purchase we have to ask each customer for their postal code. Now the computer isn't smart enough to know if what is typed in is an actual code or not, so for those of you who happen to be a little cautious about such information you can really give anything you want. No one at Reitman's will ever know the difference. Last week though after I had finished scanning all the items the customer had, I as per usual asked for the postal code. The lady gave it to me. I then realized that it was also my postal code as well. Neither of us wanting at first to say exactly where we lived gave points of reference as to where our homes were. We discovered that not only do we live on the same street, we live on the same side of the street and on the same block, and yes, we live in the same building. Now, we are not on the same floor, but if we were on the same floor we would be right across the hall from each other! Crazy eh! We are now constantly bumping into each other and when we do I receive a hearty "Hello Neighbor" and have a chance to smile at the crazy coincidence of it all.

MATT THE CAT


Matt is a crazy kid! I think if I could sum him up into one word only, it would be extraordinary! It's funny but I have no idea where the nickname Matt-the-cat came from. Probably something Dad gave him because it rhymed. Interestingly enough, Matt played a cat this past spring when his high school put on a production of the Broadway musical Cats. So he was literally, Matt-the-cat. But I digress.

The reason Matt is on my mind at this moment is that he is staying with me for the week. At "the hotel" which he calls my apartment building. He is going to swim camp at Dal for the week and living the high life as he goes about life with no responsibilities or cares. Except swimming...and the excitement of swimming was what woke me up at 5:30am Monday morning concerned we were going to be late! In the last two days though, he has been sleeping until at least 6:30...a much more civilized hour(sort of).

DISCONNECTED

I have been without a phone for exactly one week. It is so true that you really don't have any idea on how much you rely one something until it is gone. Now it is not that I am missing out on hundreds of phone calls a day or anything but it is the inconvenience of not being able to contact whomever I want, whenever I want that is frustrating. For the last week I have been planning my phone calls around each other. I have been waiting until I have had at least three calls to make before I walk from my apartment over to school to use a payphone. I have also stopped phoning anyone just to catch up or chat. Using the phone has become something that I do only when I have no other option. It has also been an inconvenience when I have had people over. Because the intercom system is hooked up to the phone line, when people come to visit, I have no way of knowing when they have arrived. I have to make my best guess and go down stairs and wait. (This will be especially annoying tomorrow when I have a 3 hour window for when the repair man is to show up!!)

This might be a distant parallel, but think about the phone as Jesus for a second. As a Christian I don't even want to think about what my life would be like if I had to go a week without Jesus in it. I rely on Him for everything. Imagine if He wasn't there all the time to talk to whenever about whatever! Or if we had to wait until we had at least three really good prayer requests before we were able to speak with him. Or if He was like my broken intercom system and I had to make a guess about when He was actually going to show up to listen to my prayers. Imagine if we couldn't talk to Jesus about the everyday happenings of our lives, if He would only listen if we had an extremely necessary request that couldn't wait and had to be dealt with. What a life that would be.

The truth of the matter is, that I never have to worry about any of that. Jesus is always there to listen to my prayers, no matter what. And it doesn't matter if I have one request or one hundred, He is going to listen to them all. But how often do I take advantage of that? I know that I have a pretty good prayer life, but how often do I keep things to myself instead of passing them onto Jesus? How often do I wait until something is an urgent necessary matter before I start praying about it? Why as Christians are we so often reactive with our prayers instead of proactive? Why is it that we so often turn to pray as a last resort when it seems there is no other option?

Ah...It seems as though I now have one more thing to talk to Jesus about...And then I will go find a payphone to make some necessary "can't wait till later" phone calls.

Now, I don't like to brag, but since this is on behalf of someone else I think it might be ok, especially since he would never brag...ever. My little brother(I say little but he towers over me at six feet tall) has just made an all star soccer team for 15 year olds from across eastern North America. Now, it is not as if Sandy woke up one morning and was all of a sudden really awesome at soccer...he has worked crazy hard to get to where he is. Infact he has been cut from his fair share of teams. But he works hard...he trains in some way eight days a week. He has earned every oppertunity that has come his way through soccer.

But it's not his soccer ability or work ethic that make me so proud of him. It is his desire to put God first in his life. Sandy was baptised just over a month ago, and as his sister I can honesetly say it was one of the proudest moments of my life. My "little" bother has decided to live his life for Jesus and nothing could make me happier or more proud of him. My pray is that he will continue to grow in his faith and use his soccer as a platform to spread the gospel.