I call it "Young Man in Canoe".... or is that too obvious.
Follow in the fun at The Long Road to China
Thanksgiving & Stuff
10 years ago
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Black and White Wednesday - Summer edition
Another late day submission....
I call it "Young Man in Canoe".... or is that too obvious.
Follow in the fun at The Long Road to China
I call it "Young Man in Canoe".... or is that too obvious.
Follow in the fun at The Long Road to China
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Black and White Wednesday
A little late in the day to post but what the heck...
Presenting Winnie Sam...
Join in the fun at The Long Road to China
Presenting Winnie Sam...
Join in the fun at The Long Road to China
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
More Children's Stories For Adults...
So in my last post I indicated that I had two favourite stories that greatly define not only my personal philosophies, but my moment by moment living. I related the tale Heaven and Hell, which emphasizes the point that Paul made in Philippians 4: 11-13 that our contentment and joy is not dependent on our circumstances, but rather what we do with them. As Paul has learned to rejoice in suffering (2 Corinthians 12: 9,10) and in good times, we are also able to seize God's promise to experience joy regardless of our situation. Not happiness mind you, which is fleeting, but true joy that lights the spirit and eases our burdens.
But I also referenced another tale, The Journey. This one is just as important to me and is probably as strong an influence on how I choose to relate to others... family, friends, the acne-laden kid serving me at the McD's drive-thru window... whatever. And so, I share the tale with you in hopes that my "dominos" might fall in your direction...
THE JOURNEY (revised in honour of Mother's Day)
There was once a boy who lived in a small village in the very middle of a large island. Now this boy loved his mother very much and when it came time to celebrate her special day, he pondered deeply the best gift he could give her to show how much he loved her. After thinking and praying for inspiration, a wonderful idea lit up within him and he made his decision. Searching the village he found a small wooden cup and then packing some supplies, he set off on a two day journey to the coast of the island. Arriving there he carefully filled the wooden cup with sand from the beach and then he travelled the two day journey back to the village. Upon arriving he ran to his mother and presented the cup of sand and let her know what he had done. Now his mother, though very appreciative of anything her child would give her, was nevertheless puzzled and asked the boy why he would travel so far to fill the cup with sand when there was plenty of sand right in their own village. The boy, with a smile on his face and love clearly displayed in his eyes explained to his mom the secret of what he had done. He told her this...
"But mother, the sand and the cup aren't the gift. My gift to you was the journey!"
Man! I love that story. And the more I consider it, the more value and validity I believe it has for our modern world. In case you missed it the moral for my little tale.... The attitude AND effort you offer others, whether in gift or just in a daily chore, is FAR more important than simply the fact that you did it. If I make my wonderful wife even a simple cup of tea, but while handing it over I make a big show of it or indicate by my attitude or words that it was really a pain and inconvenience to make it, I guarantee that tea will taste bitter. But I'm not sure my Katie, who offers me way too much credit in making the "perfect" cup of tea, after 14 years of marriage, has truly learned the secret ingredient... my attitude. I consciously make sure that every cup of tea I make includes what I call a "no problem" attitude. An indication that OF COURSE I will make a cup of tea... it's the very least I can do for the woman I call my best friend. To this very day, if we have an argument or fall in the enemy's trap of speaking harshly to each other, I try as soon as possible to make a cup of tea. Kate believes it's my way of making peace, or some might say of "kissing up". But the truth that until now I've never told anyone is that it has very little to do with that and a lot more to do with knowing the enemies methods. You see, every argument is designed by the "principalities and power" (Ephesians 6:12) to chip away at our self esteem and our worth... to lose sight of God's view. That tea is my way of sticking it to the devil, showing I'm not going to be a puppet or a slave to my sinful responses, AND it's a way of letting my wife know that even at my worst emotional moments, her worth is in no way diminished. She is WORTH the journey... of setting aside my hurt or anger to do a simple thing that still speaks volumes. You would be amazed how much better something tastes, or looks, or feels, when it's completely free of the sensation that you were a bother to someone else. I try to apply the same reasoning to accidents... kids drop something on the floor, Katie breaks a glass while being amazing enough to do the family's dishes, what's the value in getting mad? This is an OPPORTUNITY to show your loved ones that their worth is far more important than the 30 seconds it takes to wipe up some milk. Doesn't mean I always succeed in masking my frustration... I am human. But it DOES mean that I always try. It's amazing what we can do when we seize God's promise that we can have victory over our impulses, our emotions, and our responses. (! Corinthians 13)
Imagine what our days would be like if everyone got that and looked for the opportunities to show even the most annoying stranger, friend, or fellow blogger their worth as God sees them, instead of feeling like it's our duty to tear them down because of our own philosophies and feelings. Hey you know what it would be like? Just like we were feeding each other across Heaven's table... and on that note, if you don't know what I'm talking about, be sure to read my previous post.
Be well all, and hey, if you enjoyed this post, I'm blessed and I hope you know it was no problem, you're worth it.
But I also referenced another tale, The Journey. This one is just as important to me and is probably as strong an influence on how I choose to relate to others... family, friends, the acne-laden kid serving me at the McD's drive-thru window... whatever. And so, I share the tale with you in hopes that my "dominos" might fall in your direction...
THE JOURNEY (revised in honour of Mother's Day)
There was once a boy who lived in a small village in the very middle of a large island. Now this boy loved his mother very much and when it came time to celebrate her special day, he pondered deeply the best gift he could give her to show how much he loved her. After thinking and praying for inspiration, a wonderful idea lit up within him and he made his decision. Searching the village he found a small wooden cup and then packing some supplies, he set off on a two day journey to the coast of the island. Arriving there he carefully filled the wooden cup with sand from the beach and then he travelled the two day journey back to the village. Upon arriving he ran to his mother and presented the cup of sand and let her know what he had done. Now his mother, though very appreciative of anything her child would give her, was nevertheless puzzled and asked the boy why he would travel so far to fill the cup with sand when there was plenty of sand right in their own village. The boy, with a smile on his face and love clearly displayed in his eyes explained to his mom the secret of what he had done. He told her this...
"But mother, the sand and the cup aren't the gift. My gift to you was the journey!"
Man! I love that story. And the more I consider it, the more value and validity I believe it has for our modern world. In case you missed it the moral for my little tale.... The attitude AND effort you offer others, whether in gift or just in a daily chore, is FAR more important than simply the fact that you did it. If I make my wonderful wife even a simple cup of tea, but while handing it over I make a big show of it or indicate by my attitude or words that it was really a pain and inconvenience to make it, I guarantee that tea will taste bitter. But I'm not sure my Katie, who offers me way too much credit in making the "perfect" cup of tea, after 14 years of marriage, has truly learned the secret ingredient... my attitude. I consciously make sure that every cup of tea I make includes what I call a "no problem" attitude. An indication that OF COURSE I will make a cup of tea... it's the very least I can do for the woman I call my best friend. To this very day, if we have an argument or fall in the enemy's trap of speaking harshly to each other, I try as soon as possible to make a cup of tea. Kate believes it's my way of making peace, or some might say of "kissing up". But the truth that until now I've never told anyone is that it has very little to do with that and a lot more to do with knowing the enemies methods. You see, every argument is designed by the "principalities and power" (Ephesians 6:12) to chip away at our self esteem and our worth... to lose sight of God's view. That tea is my way of sticking it to the devil, showing I'm not going to be a puppet or a slave to my sinful responses, AND it's a way of letting my wife know that even at my worst emotional moments, her worth is in no way diminished. She is WORTH the journey... of setting aside my hurt or anger to do a simple thing that still speaks volumes. You would be amazed how much better something tastes, or looks, or feels, when it's completely free of the sensation that you were a bother to someone else. I try to apply the same reasoning to accidents... kids drop something on the floor, Katie breaks a glass while being amazing enough to do the family's dishes, what's the value in getting mad? This is an OPPORTUNITY to show your loved ones that their worth is far more important than the 30 seconds it takes to wipe up some milk. Doesn't mean I always succeed in masking my frustration... I am human. But it DOES mean that I always try. It's amazing what we can do when we seize God's promise that we can have victory over our impulses, our emotions, and our responses. (! Corinthians 13)
Imagine what our days would be like if everyone got that and looked for the opportunities to show even the most annoying stranger, friend, or fellow blogger their worth as God sees them, instead of feeling like it's our duty to tear them down because of our own philosophies and feelings. Hey you know what it would be like? Just like we were feeding each other across Heaven's table... and on that note, if you don't know what I'm talking about, be sure to read my previous post.
Be well all, and hey, if you enjoyed this post, I'm blessed and I hope you know it was no problem, you're worth it.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Children's Stories for Adults
Anybody that knows me personally knows that between being a children's entertainer for 25 years, a teacher in various forms, and a corporate trainer, I love to use analogies and stories to make a point. When it comes to really great stories that really drive home my personal philophies, there are always two that immediately come to mind..... The Journey and another one called Heaven and Hell. Recently I've used the latter story in many customer service training sessions and it's been greatly appreciated. So for something a little different, I thought I'd include it here to share with my vast audience (both of you can wake up for the story now).
HEAVEN AND HELL
Legend has it that there was once a man that had lived a truly honourable and faithful life. So in his later years before he died, God appeared to him and offered to grant him any one desire. Without hesistation the man revealed that he had always wanted to know the difference between Heaven and Hell.
Immediately God whisked them to Hell, where the man was immediately overwhelmed with a bizarre and disturbing sight. Before him was an incredibly long banquet table, stretching as far as the eye could see. On the table was every possible delicious food and delicacy anyone could ever imagine, fresh and plentiful. But around the table were all the residents of Hell, screaming and wailing, for each one of them displayed one particular abnormality. Every single person had stretched out four foot arms with no elbows. As a result, they could all reach the food, but no one could bring it to their mouth, resulting in agonizing cries of starvation and pain. The man exclaimed "Lord! I cannot take this sight! Please take me away! PLEASE!"
Instantly the sight before the man changed as he found himself in Heaven. But now the man was even more amazed, because although it was obvious he was no longer in Hell, he still saw before him the same bizarre sight. The miles-long banquet table, the food, and again, all the people had four foot arms, still with no elbows. But in this place, everyone was cheering, laughing, celebrating and singing God's praises. Because in this place, every heavenly resident had learned the secret of the table.... Every person simply fed their neighbour across the table.
The moral of the story, which I have found true in countless situations... it's not the circumstances of your situation that determine your own private heaven or hell... it's your response to them.
LOVE that story!
HEAVEN AND HELL
Legend has it that there was once a man that had lived a truly honourable and faithful life. So in his later years before he died, God appeared to him and offered to grant him any one desire. Without hesistation the man revealed that he had always wanted to know the difference between Heaven and Hell.
Immediately God whisked them to Hell, where the man was immediately overwhelmed with a bizarre and disturbing sight. Before him was an incredibly long banquet table, stretching as far as the eye could see. On the table was every possible delicious food and delicacy anyone could ever imagine, fresh and plentiful. But around the table were all the residents of Hell, screaming and wailing, for each one of them displayed one particular abnormality. Every single person had stretched out four foot arms with no elbows. As a result, they could all reach the food, but no one could bring it to their mouth, resulting in agonizing cries of starvation and pain. The man exclaimed "Lord! I cannot take this sight! Please take me away! PLEASE!"
Instantly the sight before the man changed as he found himself in Heaven. But now the man was even more amazed, because although it was obvious he was no longer in Hell, he still saw before him the same bizarre sight. The miles-long banquet table, the food, and again, all the people had four foot arms, still with no elbows. But in this place, everyone was cheering, laughing, celebrating and singing God's praises. Because in this place, every heavenly resident had learned the secret of the table.... Every person simply fed their neighbour across the table.
The moral of the story, which I have found true in countless situations... it's not the circumstances of your situation that determine your own private heaven or hell... it's your response to them.
LOVE that story!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Black and White Wednesday
Love these two shots, if only for the fun I see inside both faces...
Like mother,
Like daughter.
Like mother,
Like daughter.
This one I've liked because I think of Jordan as my little angel and I like how the blanket's position reminds me of wings...
Join in the fun at The Long Road to China!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Black and White Wednesday
It's such a shame when people throw out a perfectly good toddler.
Although, at least she's being recycled.... :-)
Although, at least she's being recycled.... :-)
Join in the fun at The Long Road to China
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Black and White Wednesday
I'm getting better... only 2 pics this week.
Shot in my home studio when Sam was 5... one of my favourite pics of him. EVER.
BTW, Sam (who is now 10 years old) has started a blog of his own. If you've got kids, send them over to http://i-sam-iscool.blogspot.com/ to fill out his questionaire of the day! Heck, if you're young at heart, do it yourself.... I did!
For some reason we have lots of pics of Jordan in fields...
Have a great day!
Shot in my home studio when Sam was 5... one of my favourite pics of him. EVER.
BTW, Sam (who is now 10 years old) has started a blog of his own. If you've got kids, send them over to http://i-sam-iscool.blogspot.com/ to fill out his questionaire of the day! Heck, if you're young at heart, do it yourself.... I did!
For some reason we have lots of pics of Jordan in fields...
Have a great day!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Black & White Wednesday
Still playing catch-up to my amazing wife, so I included a few photos instead of just one.... Robin said I could... ppbbthhhh!
And another one...
The Little One...
Julie, the young ballerina, as shot by my beautiful wife Katie...
Julie, the contemplative cowgirl....
Julie, the contemplative cowgirl....
And another one...
The Little One...
And you just HAVE to catch the rare moments like this...
Sorry for all the photos folks... I'll try to play by the rules next week but with amazing kids like these, it's hard...
Be Well!
Friday, February 5, 2010
OK... so here goes my first Friday Five, as linked from MamaM
1. What are you most afraid of?
2. Do you use a flat iron or curling iron?
3. Hands-free or phone to the ear?
4. Do you have a matching bedroom set?
5. Do you believe in the paranormal?
1. What are you most afraid of?
I'm by no means a fearful person. For the most part, I think of fear as a stepping stone to faith (a topic for a future blog... watch for it). Fear certainly exists, but for the most part I take delight in finding opportunities to march through fear to the satisfaction I feel on the other side. To quote the title of a book I bought once.... "Feel the fear and do it anyway". So the only real fear I have is something that I'm NOT able to march through... that something would happen to my amazing wife or great children that could have otherwise been avoided. I mean, it doesn't make sense to worry about the unknown, if a meteor crashes into our house or a stampede of wild boars trample my children's playground... but the dangers that my family may KNOWINGLY walk into and be given the opportunity (I believe by God) to do something about but choose not to, THOSE are what I'm fearful of.
2. Do you use a flat iron or curling iron?
Sorry ladies, I'm a guy. The only type of iron I use is for my dress shirts...
3. Hands-free or phone to the ear?
Both.... to the ear if at home or office, hands-free (usually) in the car or running errands.
4. Do you have a matching bedroom set?
Umm... sort of. Although it's possible I could be mistaken since it's been a while since I've seen my side of the bedroom because of all the clothes I still have to put away in my tiny armoire. (sorry LWOM..... "lovely wife of mine")
5. Do you believe in the paranormal?
Yes, although as both a person who has considerably researched this and also having been a professional magician for 25 years, I have a somewhat unique take on this. I know for a fact that the majority of "psychics" are nothing of the sort, having performed "psychic" routines myself. The current show "The Mentalist" is actually very accurate in dealing with how many psychics actually use a method of cold reading to demonstrate "paranormal abilities". However, the REAL psychics and other paranormal phenomenon (as rare as they may be) can be extremely dangerous and are not something for the casual lay person to mess around with. I'm open to discussing more but only when requested... no soap box tirades for me.
And that's about it.... if there's anyone there reading this, welcome to this little information circle of my life.
1. What are you most afraid of?
2. Do you use a flat iron or curling iron?
3. Hands-free or phone to the ear?
4. Do you have a matching bedroom set?
5. Do you believe in the paranormal?
1. What are you most afraid of?
I'm by no means a fearful person. For the most part, I think of fear as a stepping stone to faith (a topic for a future blog... watch for it). Fear certainly exists, but for the most part I take delight in finding opportunities to march through fear to the satisfaction I feel on the other side. To quote the title of a book I bought once.... "Feel the fear and do it anyway". So the only real fear I have is something that I'm NOT able to march through... that something would happen to my amazing wife or great children that could have otherwise been avoided. I mean, it doesn't make sense to worry about the unknown, if a meteor crashes into our house or a stampede of wild boars trample my children's playground... but the dangers that my family may KNOWINGLY walk into and be given the opportunity (I believe by God) to do something about but choose not to, THOSE are what I'm fearful of.
2. Do you use a flat iron or curling iron?
Sorry ladies, I'm a guy. The only type of iron I use is for my dress shirts...
3. Hands-free or phone to the ear?
Both.... to the ear if at home or office, hands-free (usually) in the car or running errands.
4. Do you have a matching bedroom set?
Umm... sort of. Although it's possible I could be mistaken since it's been a while since I've seen my side of the bedroom because of all the clothes I still have to put away in my tiny armoire. (sorry LWOM..... "lovely wife of mine")
5. Do you believe in the paranormal?
Yes, although as both a person who has considerably researched this and also having been a professional magician for 25 years, I have a somewhat unique take on this. I know for a fact that the majority of "psychics" are nothing of the sort, having performed "psychic" routines myself. The current show "The Mentalist" is actually very accurate in dealing with how many psychics actually use a method of cold reading to demonstrate "paranormal abilities". However, the REAL psychics and other paranormal phenomenon (as rare as they may be) can be extremely dangerous and are not something for the casual lay person to mess around with. I'm open to discussing more but only when requested... no soap box tirades for me.
And that's about it.... if there's anyone there reading this, welcome to this little information circle of my life.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Katie - MY Wonder Woman
OK, so as you can see (that is, if anyone is out there) it's been a loooong while since I posted... so before I get to my new post, I should probably answer the question that is on everybody's (again, one or two) minds... "Hey Ian, why the delay in sharing your incredible thoughts and observations on daily life with us ever thirsty-for-knowledge readers?"
Well, there's a couple of reasons... first of all, the number of things that I am really passionate about are very few. I like to think of myself as someone with some pretty strong priorities.... faith, my family, making the world a little better place than I left it, etc. But I'm not one to get really upset about some of the daily bizarre incidents or people in my daily life...
Pajama wearing lady in Wal-mart - Crazy, granted. Total lack of self-awareness, probably. Worth taking an iphone picture of to show my more blog-capable wife, definitely. But just don't care enough to do an extensive blog about.
Insanity in my office life - probably more blog-worthy but a) don't feel like getting sued and b) WAAAAAY too many unbelievable stories to tell. I'd probably just lose credibility because they seem too crazy to be real.
Tales of being a part-time children's magician / wizard / "Kris-Kringle" stand-in (shhhhh.... don't let your kids read that) - probably more blog-worthy but only once I get the momentum going. Remind me to tell you about the drunk father that tried to beat me up while I was dressed as Barney the stupid dinosaur (pause.... shudder!! Deep breath... moving on). Oh, and that was IN FRONT OF his 6 year old daughter... on her birthday. Can you say "therapy bills"? SURE you can!
OK, so one more reason - because the things I DO get passionate about can land me in hot water. I'm madly in love with my amazing wife, fanatical about being a great dad for my kids, and try to be very loyal to my friends. But the downside to this is that most of my opinions that are important enough to share are about one of those 3 things. And that's not always good. I'll see what I can do to keep that in check but when I fail to, believe me... there are people that will let me know. (quick shout out... Love you Katie!)
So now for the other question... why am I blogging now?
Because this weekend I got to see something in action that is the very thing I wanted to celebrate when I created this blog... Dominos! To put that in context, I'm VERY slowly writing a book - a series of life observations CALLED Dominos. Dominos are very important to me. As a child, I loved stacking Dominos in patterns throughout our basement... over boxes, card tables, books.. whatever. Then I would knock down the first domino and watch all the others fall. As I've gotten older I've adapted the philosophy of dominos into the daily meaning for my life. The actions I take and the decisions I make are like the first domino in a chain. If I lose my temper or unjustly injure someone, there are effects beyond my actions... maybe somebody I lost my temper at then blows their cool on someone else... and so on. Maybe my choosing to put off that task I should have done puts it in someone else's way instead - causing stress, disruption, or put simply, problems. That's not the way I want my dominos to fall. So as much as it's in my power, I try to do the right thing - to get the dominos to fall into a more attractive pattern. Helping, instead of hurting. That's what Dominos mean to me.
(at this point, you've been reading a while - I've got a little more to go so if you want to go grab a drink, use the restroom, whatever... go ahead, I'll wait here.)
.....
.....
(whistling, checking watch...)
....
...
Ah, you're back. Perfect. Ok, so the recent Domino that got this going today. If you're reading this post, you probably already know my amazing wife Kate. One of the best things in the world to happen to me (even if she too often questions it). Also the most beautiful and desirable woman I know (she WAY too often questions THAT... really bugs me too).
Anyway, many, many moons ago, there were, umm... incidents (that should work) where Katie would get really mad about stuff - the 1 hour photo guy that took 63 minutes. The fast food place that took 5 minutes instead of 3. etc etc. Didn't matter to me (did I mention I'm madly in love with her?) but I tried, whenever possible, to be the calm in her storm.
This weekend though, something different happened.
THIS weekend, Katie used that (what's the word here.... Anger? No - that'll get me in trouble. Wrath? DEFINITELY not!... Oh, I know!) Katie used that PASSION in a really great way - to benefit someone else. Someone who needed defending but couldn't defend themselves. You see, Katie and I went to see Avatar as part of a Saturday night date night (we have one every 5 years whether we like it or not... KIDDING!)
So Avatar was REALLY cool..... I hear.
I wouldn't know because it was sold out all the way until Sunday night. So instead we went to see Legion, a supernatural thriller where God has lost all faith in mankind so he sends his angels to wipe us all out. Suffice to say, there were swear words BEYOND the normal swear words, EXTREME violence, and disturbing images involving young kids becoming angel/demon possessed and biting out throats, being shot to pieces, etc etc. Almost more graphic than even I, in all my manliness, could handle!
But the worst part?
That would be the two IDIOT parents sitting with three kids aged 2 to 8 throughout the WHOLE movie. Kate cried for almost 20 minutes that these children would be exposed to this completely UN-kid-friendly crap. I agreed. So when the movie finished, what did my own personal Wonder Woman do? She took on those parents using the aforementioned ang.. (oops) PASSION. Told them how ashamed they should be, how sickened she was, etc etc. Full wrath of God stuff beyond anything the movie had dared show. Afterwards, I had to help Katie to our van because she was so upset. It was at that point that she had asked if I was embarassed by her outburst. Embarassed? NO! Proud as heck is more like it! Because of her and ONLY her, there's a chance, regardless of how slim or great... still, a CHANCE that the next time these parents decide to take their 3 victims / children to some ultra-violent horror flick, they just might remember the tongue lashing they got and even if they're not thankful for it, MAYBE they'll say "maybe we should skip this one." Might be a week from now, maybe a month, maybe even a year. But regardless, there's a good chance it will happen, and THAT's a good way for the dominos to fall.
And that's why my wife is MY hero.
TTFN! Maybe I'll post again soon. Maybe I'll just go home and kiss my wife.
