Kite Flying can be like life

A dear friend sent kites to our kids.  The kites are great because they are "pocket kites" and have no sticks.  They are rectangular pockets that fill with wind and have a really long tail.  

We had one partially successful and frustrating day of flying when we were visiting a friend in Hope, but the winds stopped, so hoped to have a really good day of kite flying when we got home to Steveston.

Atticus really trying

Phin taking his kite for a drag

When we were home, and I had my day with the kids and Joanne was at the office, I noticed it was really windy.  So after we finished our home-schooling we went to the park that is right on a point jutting into the Georgia Straight and is known as a windy spot favoured by kite-flyers.

I had underestimated how windy it was, and that it may be foolish to try this on my own.

I was able to get one kite unwound and launched.  Up it went, and I had one thrilled child and two that were now eager and impatient.  I started to work on the second kite.

While I am doing that, my four year old, excited and impatient, pulls his out of it's pouch and proceeds to shake it, vigorously.   "No Phin, please wait, no... no!"  Too late.  Kite #3 is now a tangled mess.  

So I get the second kite launched and then I start trying to untangle Phin's, and while I am doing that, the other two kites cross lines in the air, dance around each other and come crashing to the ground.  And there I am, with a howling wind, and three kites in a tangled heap on the ground.   Atticus pleads with me, "Papa can you fix them?"  "Maybe, but it's going to take some time."

Beatrice grabs one of the spools and starts running in circles around us with great glee.   I try to get up and stop her, but then the three kites I'm kneeling on start blowing away, so I have to rush back to hold them down.  It's my turn to plead, "Please stop sweetheart, you're making it worse."  She giggles and continues to make a cocoon around us.  I need to do something before we resemble Frodo prepped to be carried off to Shelob's lair.

"Atticus, help me.  Stop her please."  Atticus, in a swift judgement call, decides to stop her with a flying tackle.  "Atticus!  You didn't have to do that!"   He retorts, "You said to stop her!"  That's true, I did.  Now Beatrice is sobbing, I'm trying to console her, and both boys are standing beside me, begging for their kites, like they would petition for the life of an ill pet.  "Please Papa?  Pleeeeeassse?  I am saying pleeease!"

With one sobbing little girl on my shoulder, and two little boys pulling on each pant leg, and a heap of tangled kites at my feet, I want to laugh and cry and let loose with a primal scream that will rip the sky.  But instead I whimper a prayer, "...help?"  (I wish I'd done the primal scream as well.)

I take a deep breath and break the news to them.  "We are not going to be able to fly kites any more today.  We are going to have to go home, and I will work on them there."

Beatrice continues to sob.  Phin's heart is broken and he begins to wail.  Atticus shifts to anger.  "You can fix them!  You can!  You just don't want to!"

More than anything at that moment, I wanted to see those three kites in the air and three happy little faces.

Some of us, impatient with how our life is unfolding, have shaken it out, only to have a jumble of string and cloth that never gets off the ground.

Others have soared for a bit, only to cross other people's lines, and the entanglement has brought us crashing to the ground.

Sometimes we get mad at God when we look at our tangled up life that's not soaring like we'd hoped and we yell, "You can fix it.  You just don't want to!"  And I think God says to us, "I can fix it, but it's going to take some time."  And He might need to bring us in out of the wind for a while.

More Fire Thoughts

Thoughts on Fire-Mediated Serotiny
                              or

Jack Pine

Jack Pine has Been Through the Fire but the Kids are All Right

Most pine cones open up and release their seeds on a yearly basis.  Some do not.  Some cones, like those of the Jack Pine, often don't release their seeds until they've been through a fire.  This is called fire-mediated serotiny (seed release.)

Life can be tough for a seedling.  Finding enough soil to take root in among all that ground cover can be difficult.  And sometimes a dense forest means much competition for sunlight on the forest floor.

But sometimes something miraculous happens in the taller trees that are not consumed by a fire.  The heat from the fire will actually cause the cones to open.  The serotiny of some trees is so well choreographed that they will open in the heat of the fire, but not actually drop the seeds until after a rain.  This way the seeds are not burned, but land on rich, moist earth.

This is my prayer for Living Waters.  That since our fire, more growth will happen; that the seeds will we scatter will fall on fertile, receptive soil.  And I pray for substantial growth.  We don't want to be planting clover or Dandelions, but trees, big trees; something strong that is going to stand for decades.

Interestingly enough, and perhaps not coincidentally, one of the trees with serotinous cones is the world's largest; the Giant Sequoia.  The cones of the Sequoia can stay closed for twenty years, sometimes waiting for a fire.  The fire that consumed our office happened as we were celebrating our 20th anniversary.

Join me in praying that this will be the year of new growth.

Giant Sequoia, this one is known as The General Grant tree in Kings Canyon National Park

Significance

I wanted to write a bit about some of the larger significance surrounding this fire and our move to the new offices.  This is a season of big changes for Living Waters Canada, even before we lost everything in the fire.  See, we had just parted ways with our parent organization Desert Stream Ministries.  Andy Comiskey, the founder of Desert Stream, (and the author of the original Living Waters manual that our manual is based on,) came and met with Toni and some board members.  He released us and gave us his blessing to function on our own and to network more closely with Living Waters Global.  This was a huge shift.

Another interesting note is that Living Waters Global has an international conference every three years in a different country.  And that conference is happening this year, and for the first time, it will be in Canada.  We are hosting the conference right here in Vancouver in June.

All these "firsts" and "new beginnings" had just occurred when our office burned down.  We received many encouraging letters talking about trading ashes for beauty, and being refined by fire.  And we believe this to be so.  We believe God allowed some things to be burned so that we may start afresh, and we pray that the things that were true, will remain.  Please pray this for us as well.

Farewell to the old...

I was the last person to leave our old offices on the last day that they let us go in and rummage for items that might be rescued.  Before I left I shot a quick video, just to say goodbye.

Temporary digs

Since the fire, we have been "camping" at a local church that has been very generous with their space, and we are very grateful for Tenth Church allowing us to use their nursery and prayer room as our temporary offices.  (The little animal decals on the wall are helping us all get in touch with our inner child.)

Toni, our boss, sharing the nursery with the rest of us.

Some team time around a table in the prayer room.

Ashes... ashes...

I thought I would post some more pictures of the aftermath from our fire.

This is my friend Matt who runs our River program for youth.  Much of that mountain of debris is what used to be my office.

We were literally shoveling through stuff to find anything we could salvage.

Smiling on the outside but crying on the inside.

Letter from our Director

Toni Dolfo-Smith, our courageous leader and executive director for Living Waters Canada sent out the following letter, and I thought I'd post it here.

Dear Friends,

As many of you know, on February 22^nd, the Living Waters Canada staff experienced an Ash Wednesday we will never forget – we lost our offices to a devastating fire. 

It is difficult to describe to you the loss we feel. While most of our significant records and materials are backed up, and we do have basic insurance, we have lost many irreplaceable items – notes, photographs, gifts of appreciation, personal journals, our library, and other personal items too numerous to mention.

While our insurance will cover the cost of replacing computers and basic office furniture, it will not fully cover the cost of all that we have lost. Ironically, just a few months ago we raised money to finally purchase furniture to make our well-used common space a comfortable place for our various support groups. We painted, sewed, made art, and used every creative avenue we could to create a welcoming space, and were really pleased with the result. It seems that we will have to have another go at it!

In the midst of all of this, we have been very aware of the Presence of God, and the support of His people. The fire has come at an interesting time in our history – having just celebrated twenty years of ministry, we had a strategic team to review and restructure the ministry for the next phase of development and growth. Part of the mandate was that “nothing was sacred” – every process, publication, and system was being reviewed and examined. On Wednesday morning at our strategic team Skype call we all expressed excitement and a growing anticipation at what was beginning to emerge, and the knowledge that God was with us. Apparently, God’s new plans also include a new physical space!

Please join us in prayer  – there are a few specific things I would ask you to keep before you as you pray:

   1.   A new office space that would be accessible to public transportation, have enough office space for LW, as well as  a space where our weekly support groups can meet.   

   2.  Comfort, focus, and strength for the staff team as we continue running our current programs and look at what lies ahead.

   3.  Financial provision as we replace what is not covered by our insurance.

   4.  Wisdom for the decisions that have to be made right away, and an ability to hear clearly as we wait on the Lord to show us His continued plans for the future of the ministry.

We have created an Emergency Response Fund to help cover the cost of operations and materials that will not be covered by insurance. You can give to the fund from our website's homepage, the ‘Donate’ section of our website, or by going tohttp://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?charityID=s59315 directly. We appreciate any gift you can give. 

I am personally grateful for your support and partnership with us. Thank you for the generosity and love that you continue to pour out on us.

With gratitude and thankfulness,

Toni Dolfo-Smith

Up in Smoke

A grease fire in the kitchen of the Tandoori King restaurant beneath us climbed up the vent and started a fire on our roof of tar and has demolished our offices.  We stood there and watched 6 or 7 fire engines and more than 30 firefighters try to save it and fail.

Shortly after I took these pictures, the batteries in my camera died, and there was nothing we could do, so I headed home to help put the kids to bed.  The rest of the team stayed a bit longer and told me that it got much worse after I left.

We got together today and cried and prayed and laughed.  (At least there's no more mouse problem.)  But it really was a special place that felt like home.  Many many people were blessed there, and we have lost many personal items, and there is much to grieve.  There is also much to celebrate: no one was hurt, and we have insurance.

We were joined this morning by members of Pacific Counselling Group, and International China Concern, who share offices with us on the floor above the restaurant.

When we visited the next day, this is what we saw:

The front of our building.

 Toni's office.  (Nice skylight.)

That's Ricky's office on the right.

The window of our foyer.

And these are two of the offices for counselors for Pacific Counselling Group.

I wasn't able to get a shot of my office because it's on the other side and because I don't have a window, so it'd be kind of a boring picture of a smokey wall.

A friend who's been through our program and experienced significant change in his life was very encouraging to us.  He said that all we had lost is stuff, and that the fire did not and could not destroy God's work.  He continued, "I am a living example of the real kind of treasure you've invested in, and that can never be taken away."  Thank you M.

One last thing to share, this morning at breakfast, we were talking about the fire, and Atticus said, "Papa remember that song that says, 'When you walk through the fire, I will be with you.'"  Indeed.  Thank you Atticus.  And the repercussions of that fire will continue, but we will continue to walk through it, and God will continually be with us.