ok … the kids are asleep so I can blog quite a few posts thus far. Both of them have grown in their own special way. One great joy for me this week is Gareth’s new found confidence in swimming in the pool. Another joy for me is the discovery of a new way to help Elysia fall asleep in my arms. I treasure moments like this.

May Chin and I also have had a pretty good week this week as a couple and as a family with the kids. We haven’t had such leisurely times together for quite a while.

While being energized by the above, I’m also shocked this morning when I got a message of a former church members wife who passed away leaving behind her husband and two kids. Once again I’m reminded of the fragility of life and it’s “sudden-ness” that may come any time.

I’ve also been following the news about a young pastor Kyle Lake who died while performing a baptism before his church. I can’t imagine the trauma his family and church members are going through now. Updates from his church is found here. This news sinks deeper because Kyle was 33. I just turned 33 last month. Again I’m left speechless … reading the following eulogies .. makes me pause and rethink my life (once again!)

Brian McLaren Remembers Kyle Lake
…I took a long walk after receiving a number of phone calls from mutual friends with the news. I felt, and feel, the unspeakable loss that this means for Jen and the kids, the trauma it brings to UBC, the broken heart that all of his friends will share, and something more … the loss Kyle’s death means to the whole Christian community. All of us involved in seeking to live and teach the good news of Jesus Christ have lost a good colleague, a good man, a good friend. This has been a tough year. With the untimely loss of a seasoned leader like Stan Grenz, and now an emerging leader like Kyle Lake, it feels like we all have some extra responsibility to share.

Chris Seay Remembers Kyle Lake
… I can’t find a good place to direct my anger. Why the hell did Ben Franklin discover electricity? Why isn’t UBC Episcopalian? I guess that would make it UEC. But mostly this is about a God who would allow this to happen in front of his congregation? This whole thing is dreadful and all I can do is pray that in Kyle’s family and the church he loved so much that something beautiful will come from all this darkness. I’ll pray a lot, try my best to have Kyle’s sense of humor, and I’m gonna go buy the finest/most expensive jogging suit I can find. I’ll be wearing it often and remembering a man I love.

I’ve got nothing much to say … but I’d like to pause to pray … for those who are mourning, for those who are comforting, for those who are supporting, for those who are living, for those who like me need to “pause” (once again).

As I pause and pray … these words from Kyle’s last sermon .. helps us to focus on what’s REAL and what matters:

“Live. And Live Well.
BREATHE. Breathe in and Breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now.
On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.
If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool Autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE.
Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time.
If you bike, pedal HARD… and if you crash then crash well.
Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done—a paper well-written, a project thoroughly completed, a play well-performed.
If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year old’s nose, don’t be disgusted if the Kleenex didn’t catch it all… because soon he’ll be wiping his own.
If you’ve recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And Grieve well.
At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you’re eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke. And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven. And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of Life. Because-it-is-most-definitely-a-Gift.”