At the moment

At the moment Natalie is asleep and I'm listening to Fernando Ortega which I just downloaded legally (since I'm in Canada) and I keep thinking that I need to be in full time ministry as I have always thought, I'm just really fed up because I don't know how to get my foot in the door. It's frustrating when you spend four years at Bible college and no one will hire you for what you want. I mean if I was in it for the money I would never have gone to Bible college. Before I came I used to listen to Christian music, thrive on Bible studies and just spending my company with other Christians. It's odd how it works because after coming to Prairie you get jaded a little by school and suddenly over time you just lose your enthusiasm. You realize not all institutions are perfect, that God's plans often involve mismanagement to some degree and almost always his plans involves more patience then is often bearable. Lately I've been torn because I've really wanted to have my loan paid off by august, I wanted either to be back in school in sept. or working somewhere meaningful full-time, or at least somewhere that seemed meaningful to me. I'm sure his plan for me will eventually prove that my time at Prairie was useful. It just seems sad to me right now that it hasn't been applied in a lot of ways. Working in the oil patch has been an education in reality in a lot of ways though. I've forgotten how sad a lot of the world is and how much need there is with divorces, loss of family and how since the majority is lost itself there isn't anything for it to be optimistic about. The next day may be well and good, but what do the good days amount to? does it mean that you had a good life? because your days were good? often that's what people will tell you except most people don't control there own days they're external things, uncontrollable. So what really constitutes a good life, what makes anything good or valuable apart from God? in a world today that denys religion its pathetic what constitutes happiness: Its nothing but drugs, pornagraphy, booze and money all of which is empty and meaningless. People may not say it but its what they practice, one of the welders at work goes to the strippers in the evenings, another gets drunk and is hung over at work, other guys will be passing around dirty pictures and all of them are workaholics trying to "get ahead," whatever that means. What does love and forgiveness mean to these people I wonder? that's probably a concept that they've never even heard of. I think I'll be praying for the guys and few girls out in the oil patch a bit more.

Industrial Radiography

This year I am doing something practical with my Bachelor of Arts in Theology, I am learning a trade. It's not unusual for me to learn a trade, I've been learning stuff like trades since I was young. My first year out of high school I learned how a house was built and since then it's sort of haunted me. Last summer my dad and I worked on a reno for my boss and that was kind of neat since it was just my dad and me working together doing the electrical. It's nice to spend time with my dad working on a job, it was always difficult when I was younger because it was a more of a chore and never seemed like I was actually learning anything... well now this summer I'm helping the dean at Prairie with his house a bit on the side. Now, however, I'm doing something completely different using radiation to produce X-Rays (really it's gamma rays, but I don't really know what the difference is) of pipelines to inspect welds. It's pretty interesting and I really like it. It's kind of ridiculous how my parents wanted me to be an x-ray tech. I guess they'll just have to settle for a gamma-ray tech instead.

Christopher J.

Updates

In three days I will have been married nine months, that's long enough to have produced a fully developed child. Fortunately, since we're not ready to have kids, we aren't having any. There's a couple that lives three floors below us however that are due to have their baby sometime in the next month or so. They were married exactly a week after us so seeing them (as rarely as we do) is sort of like staring into an alternate universe seeing how it could be. In their circumstances, he is from Kansas and she is from BC, in our circumstance I'm from BC and Natalie's from Kansas, and of course, we're not expecting any time soon (just to clarify again).
Next friday I'm going to be taking the morning off to take Natalie to get a medical exam for her application for permanent residency (immigration stuff). Interestingly enough, the lady who does these exams for permanent residency applicants works in a maternity ward. While all these lady's are going to be talking about when their due they'll probaby be looking at Natalie and think that she's three weeks along or something... at least there's a ring on her finger so it's not going to be terribly indecent or scandalous or anything like that.
I haven't been up on the blogging lately because I've been just taking it easy with only working and pretty much wasting time in the evenings doing as little as possible. I'll probably get back in the habit though since there's little else going on in this small town that I have any involvement with. It's going to be a very different summer for me then it has been in previous years. Previously I'd spend my summers working and living at home with my parents. After work we might go out for a beer, go sailing and on the weekend go camping to nit-nat windsurfing or something along those lines. It seems to me in this town that tee-totaling is the 'Christian' thing to do here and of course there's no ocean for sailing or windsurfing. Also during the summer I'd play cricket normally every week. unfortunately I get all the email for everyone on my cricket team just to make me want to go back and play all the more because I haven't been removed from my coach's email list yet. Work is pretty consuming as far as time is concerned though and on the weekends we usually watch a movie or go somewhere. So I'm starting to find stuff to do, but not as much as I'd like to. It'd be good if I could find some sport or something active to do this summer. I like playing competitively but nothing like stressful. Cricket was an ideal sport in that way, everyone would play hard, but no one really cared who won or not in the end.
One of the fellows at work will be quiting this saturday because he's moving to some small town outside of Fort McMurray. It's too bad because he's one of the most experienced guys and he's probably the most mature guys closest to my age at the place and also the most experienced. now I have to put up with two teenagers to work with come this monday. As well, this fellow who is leaving drives the three ton delievery truck. It's the biggest transport vechicle you can drive without needing a special liscense. I'm a little unsure about driving it because I've never driven anything so big, but I guess it's either me or one of the two teens (one of whom doesn't even have a liscense) so it has to be me. Come monday, I'll be driving all over central and southern alberta in this beast delievering the homehardware stuff: roof truses, lumber, ect. I really hope I don't hit anything; I have a great driving record, I'd like to keep it that way. It's pretty different driving it because your so high up it's not as easy to tell how wide you are or how far over you are in a lane. I want more practice before I have to give this three ton truck a shot full time. It's different driving the truck I normally drive, but I'm really excited about the three ton, just really apprehensive about it at the same time.
I recently heard that someone from Michigan regularly checks my blogg from my friend Katie. I wonder if I know who it is. I felt like I should be updating this site a little more regularly if people actually look at this site. In anycase, I best be getting some sleep since I have to work tommorow.

~Christopher J.

Ministry Employment

I am so frustrated with people who advertise about church work or whatever. It's really annoying. The only decently paying jobs want 5 years experience and an MA or some seminary degree, but they'll never pay off your loan so they'll never hire anyone. Half the people who put out the advertisements can't even spell their own advertisements. One was looking for a bilingual person who "understand both English and Spanish." These churches ask so much of people looking to go into youth ministry and they want a pastor to be educated, an administrator, set a budget, organize a youth program or just even start one part time with the possibility of it growing into full time. Somehow, getting youth to your church is not going to increase your budget, at least not high school students anyway. How can churches not realize this, it's pretty unlikely that if the church is 50 and you grow the youth group that the rest of the church is going to grow too unless you wait ten years until all the kids are tithing adults who become members... which won't happen if the church is only 50 there's probably a reason for it (ie. the congregation or the pastor). Most churches kill their youth pastor with loads of responsibilites that have nothing to do with ministry and they pay them nothing almost and act like the pastor doesn't have anything to do anyways. I would like some church try and coherce me into becoming their youth pastor, tell me why I would be good for them. It's ridiculous that these little church committees run around looking for the most charismatic personality they can find with no brains just to attract people like church is supposed to be a tele-evangelized program. The most annoying thing in searching for jobs is when they advertise "looking for a Spirit-filled..." what does that even mean? They probably don't even know what that looks like. I think I'm going to learn to drive a bus or something, forget church work, I'd rather just lead a Bible study at home or something, do my own thing. Why don't church's advertise "looking for a youth pastor who will grow the youth and teach them what you've learned in Bible College, do what it takes, just don't be a heretic or mistreat the Bible or our tradition." I think churches and church boards today have a real power trip over youth ministry thinking that Bible College graduates are incompetent or something. And what is up with the age thing too? I have seen so many church advertisements saying that the youth pastor should be between 20-30? Is this just because Robb Bell and what's his name down at the purpose driven church are that age? I hate looking for jobs, I get depressed just looking at the sort of advertisements and what sort of pastors everyone wants. On the plus side I'll be graduating soon with a BA in Theology... now what do I do? I think I'll get a liscense to drive a semi or something.