The Cedar Life
Living for the Long Run
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This post is the first in a series I plan to share over the next few weeks exploring some themes associated with childhood and my reflections on what it means to be a child in the Kingdom. The idea for this was triggered by a song called “Child Again” by NEEDTOBREATHE. I have provided a link to the song at the bottom of this post. Shock & Awe It does not take… Read More
Learning to Love Before getting married, I had never heard of Gary Chapman’s book, The 5 Love Languages. Marriage does not come with a manual, but if it did, the concepts within the book could cover off a few chapters. For those not familiar with it, the premise of the book is that there are five primary ways in which we ‘speak’ and receive love. They are: Acts of Service, Quality Time,… Read More
Life is Loud On a typical weeknight, our family will sit down together for dinner sometime between 6 and 6:30. Dinner is an important time for us as it is often the only time of day that all six of us are together at the same time. It is sometimes the first opportunity I have to connect with the kids and hear about how everyone’s day went. I would love to say… Read More
Magic Furniture At the conclusion of C.S. Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew, the main character cannot bear to see a particular fallen tree chopped into firewood. Instead, he has the timber used to make a wardrobe and put in his house in the country. A minor detail in the context of the book, the implications of the wardrobe are significant for future instalments in the Narnia series. I read this story with my… Read More
Are you talking to me? Moments after the birth of our fourth child, the midwife turned to me as she was filling out some paperwork and said, ‘Great job, Dad’. I froze. It felt like a trap. A quick review of the past few hours showed my biggest contribution to be holding my wife’s hand as she screamed in pain. Compared to what my wife had endured to deliver our son, I… Read More
Wrong Seat “Tickets, please” Sitting in the window seat on a train, backpack slung on the rack above, I know I have to get up. I have a ticket for the train, just not for this seat. Seeing it empty as I was standing against the luggage rack, I did not think anyone would mind if I sat down. And no one did, until the train stopped and someone got on with… Read More
Slow Starts I experienced a heavy morning recently. Going through my routine, I was very aware of some big challenges ahead of me. Besides family responsibilities and work, I was thinking about an email from a teacher at the school and a call scheduled with a group I volunteer with to discuss some big decisions, impacting many people. I was feeling anxious and apprehensive about the day ahead. I often experience these… Read More
The Cedar Life 