Jonathan Manafo

My 2 week vacation is done. Just as we finish up, we start another adventure. Janet and I along with 5 young adults and 7 students will be heading to Montreal tomorrow to help the Westside Gathering run a week long kids camp. We’re looking forward to being a help to this church plant.

A few things before we take off:

- While on vacation I finished Brian Mclaren’s trilogy by completing his 2nd book (yes, I didn’t read them in order). Once again, a compelling story. I’m not into the evolution bit, but we do find ourselves wrapped up in God’s story and his description of it was quite good (Creation, Calling, Crisis, Conversation, Christ and Consumation). I also read most of NT Wright’s ‘For all God’s worth’. Great little book on worship and the church.

- This morning I ran my first race. It was a 5km deal that took me 27 min and 7 seconds. I’ve been running for a while and entered to see how I shaped up against the field. Not bad for my first one. How those guys run full and half marrathons is beyond me. I may have enough inspiration to run a 10k one day, but that’s it.

- Spending quality time with Janet and the kids was great. As they get older I see how time is the most important gift I can ever give them. I’m not a perfect dad, but I’m trying…plus, having the perfect mom for a wife really helps.

Lots more to say, but it’ll have to wait. It’s 11:30 pm and we have an early morning.

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(The title of this blog is taken from a summer teaching series @ Kawartha Community Church)

Sunday afternoon my family and I will be heading out to a cottage in Halaburton, Ontario. It’s a place we’ve been renting (at a very gracious price I might add) for the last three years. Unfortunately for us, the owners (who are wonderful people) have sold the place and this will be our last year to use it. On the upside, they are building another cottage and we’ll hopefully be able to use that in the future. One way or another everyone needs a break and we are so looking forward to the next 2 weeks of R & R.

For the most part we’ll be hanging out as a family. My wife and kids don’t see enough of me for sure, so these two weeks are really special. I also hope to get some writing (music) and reading done. Being away from TV and internet give me the head space to read and write more.

Here are some titles I’m hoping to get through this summer:
- One More Day, Mitch Albom
- Gilead, M. Robinson (I started this one a while ago and never got around to finishing it)
- For all God’s Worth, NTW
- Evil and the Justice of God, NTW
- Hidden in Plain Secret, Mark Buchanan (this author tends to write one great book and then a ‘not so great’ one, if the cycle proves correct, this one should be one of his great ones)

I grew up with a wonderful Dad who had one flaw, he never took a break. He was a workaholic. Even though I see a lot of that in me I’ve come to realize how I treasure time away from work, church, schedules. I’m not going to ramble on why God gave the Jews a sabbath day of rest, but no matter how, when, why, or where…take a break. If not for you, then for the people who love you and rely on you most.

Peace & Love

p.s. Oh my…I almost forgot…yesterday, my first son lost his first tooth…pretty cool!

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We’re doing a series on Jesus’ parables this summer (”stories in red”). This morning I spoke on Matthew 13:24-39, 36-43 (wheat and weeds) and used this N.T. Wright quote. Enjoy…

“We wait with patience, not like people in a dark room wondering if anyone will ever come with a candle, but like people in early morning who know that the sun has arisen and are now waiting the full brightness of the midday sun”

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Not sure if anyone’s noticed, but I’ve been away from the blogger desk for over a month. Times flies when you’re having fun. I definitely should’ve kept up with my writing…but…here’s what kept me busy these last few weeks.

Jacob’s Summer soccer sked

This is the 3rd year that we’ve put Jacob into soccer. The first year or two it took a while for him to get the hang of things. I couldn’t pay for him to get a goal. Well, things can sure change in a hurray. So far, in 3 games, Jacob has 10 goals. I’m not counting :).

Music

I don’t write about this much, but about once or twice a month I get the oppotunity to play or speak in church or ministry related events. The first week of June, I was able to accompany (on bass) my good friend Phil at a concert we performed at in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Phil is raising money for his first cd project. The night was a success both musically and financially. I hope and pray things go well for him on this project. His stuff (writing) is really special. Great words - Great music. For more info check out Phil’s web page

School

I’m just finishing up an online course for my graduate studies at UofT. It was simply an intro to New Testament course that I couldn’t get out of, but it was still very beneficial. It refreshed my critical thinking of the biblical text while reminding me of the core message that we call the gospel. I have one more paper due this week, then a nice break until the fall. I’m entering my last stretch. It’s been a long hall (started in 2000) which will hopefully end with me graduating at the end of next year.

Church

I’m just finishing up a busy season at CLC. We’ve been without a student pastor since January and I’ve been the fill-in guy. It’s been lots of work, but I’ve loved every moment of it. Students are so cool to work with. I’m going to miss spending time with them weekly. The great news here is that our new student pastor ‘Psegga Jones’ started this week. She’s great. We’re so glad to have her on the team and look forward to see our students grow in all that God has for them.

The Lobby Cafe

We had our last lobby cafe on June 23. Since its inception in January, we’ve seen lots of post-secondary students and young adults come out once a month for this cafe. We’re taking a 2 month break before starting up again in the fall. Can’t wait. Thanks to our ‘house band’, set-up team and everyone that made ‘The Lobby’ happen.

Short Get-a-way

Janet, I and the kiddies took off to Blue Mountain for a few days last week. It was so good to get a way with our family. The deal was awesome. We took advantage of ‘package’ offered to us. One of those, ‘listen to our presentation and stay at our resort for real cheap’. We were a little weary, but they were great. No pressure to buy, they only took 90 minutes of our time, and the rest of the time was for us. My neighbours tried to warn me about how they would try to manipulate me and scam me of my money, but they neglected to understand 2 very important things: Blue Mountain is a very reputable resort, and I have no money to be scammed of, so this was a win/win.

Wedding(s)

I’ve officiated 3 wedding’s this summer and have one more on the way. They’ve all been pretty special so far. The first couple was a new couple to our church that I just met. It was a pleasure to see them understand how important marriage is. The second couple involved my nephew and his new bride. It was also a pleasure to marry this couple…being family and all. The latest couple was very, very cool. John and Melissa Cammisuli were married on June 16. These two young people were part of a youth group that I (and Janet) lead a number of years ago. I met these kids when they were…well, kids…and now they’re all grown up…almost. We also saw about 20 of the students from ‘insideout student ministries’ at the reception. What a great reunion. It’s amazing how much we still think and pray for them.

Finale

I think that’s it for now. I hope to blog a little more. I will leave you with some of my summer goals…
- Spend quality time with my family
- Read a bunch of books
- Break 90 (in golf)
- Get ready for the fall
- Play music

Peace!

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