Dec. 21: our expected due date

We now know that our baby's expected due date will be Dec. 21, 2007--just in time for Christmas. It actually feels more exciting than Christmas as a kid. Maybe a church would like to have a real live Baby Jesus for their church's Christmas drama-production?....maybe not.

We will be going back in Saskatoon for the delivery at Royal University Hospital. Alice will likely stay in the hospital for a few extra days and we'll stay in Saskatoon at our parents' place for a few weeks. I think Mom will help out with the cooking. I'll help out by taking care of Baby and getting lots of practice changing daipers. We are feeling more excited each day as the day approaches. We already have a lot of baby stuff either given to us, or from second-hand garage sales this past summer.

We just finished 4-weeks of pre-natal classes and now I feel like a student with head knowledge but no practical experience with babies. There were a lot of things I didn`t know, e.g., there were two types of mother`s milk, epidermal is an optional pain-killer where a tube goes through the mother`s spine. Ughh....I`m glad I`m a father and won`t have to go through so much pain as a mother. That`s why we celebrate Mother`s Day in May.

Alice will stop working on Dec. 15 and I`ll take a break from internship from Dec. 20 to Jan. 1. Then return to Prince Albert for Jan. 2.

Been having fun in internship

It’s hard to believe that Alice and I have lived in Prince Albert for 3½ months. It has been a very good experience for me in internship. I’m getting to do all the pastoral duties like preaching (2x/month), leading services every alternate Sundays, hospital and carehome visitations, plus some home visits. These are regular things I do like clockwork and I'm having fun doing it. The more I serve here as Intern Pastor, the more I feel affirmed that pastoring is for me. So I praise and thank God.

My favorite thing in internship so far is preaching. I love preaching, the preparation and writing, and also the delivering of sermons. It has been really fun. In my weekly visitations at the seniors home, one lady I've been visiting each week was so kind. She had been collecting coupons for us, including coupons for baby diapers. Starting after the new year, I will also start a bible study for a seniors group at another seniors residence downtown. Hopefully, this group will be more stable because they have time. Please continue to pray for my work here at Messiah.

I’ve also started a youth group that meet every Friday night. It kind of died out some years ago because there was no one to lead it after a key youth leader left. Our youths in our churches need leaders. Without leaders, they are like young sheep that wander away, and sometimes wander completely away from the Christian faith.

The other ministry area that’s been on my heart is for young adults in their 20s and 30s. When I look out among the congregation, there are not many in this age category, maybe one or two. This ministry has been non-existent at Messiah Lutheran; therefore, I’m trying to start up a young adults group but we can’t seem to get people out so that we can meet regularly—so far it’s just been every 2 or 3 weeks. But I can only just try to be faithful and just meet with them and get to know them one at a time.

Dear friends, please continue to pray for my ministry work here at ministry.