Dreams Unlocked

(ninans circa april 2005 - adams first visit to the beach - 3rd beach stanley park vancouver) 2005 : i turned 35 (yikes!) adam turned 1 - yay! i finished my mdiv i started a new job - my dream job actually i did my first 2 weddings as a licensed minister i preached a lot i read a lot i learned a lot about genesis i saw u2 for the 5th time i grew closer to god i got more money - could be good or bad felicia and i both juggled raising adam with our jobs i appreciated all the good things god has given me god turned me inside out "And if the night runs over And if the day won't last And if our way should falter Along the stony pass It's just a moment, this time will pass."

its good to be home - back at 950 cambie - our little apt. i have to say the entire san diego trip was quite a whirlwind - there were many allusions to the reality show "the amazing race" - i think they are fairly accurate. we spent a lot of time whizzing around from place to place: disneyaland, the zoo, the beach, church, shopping. but it was really fantastic to be together with my immediate family and their families and my cousins and aunt and uncle. hopefully we can continue to do it every couple of years. still decompressing from the trip. sn

this is the ninan clan. from l-r: michael cappello santosh ninan adam ninan abraham ninan leela ninan dilip ninan jacob cappello (head bent back) felicia ninan mira cappello seated: asha cappello gillian sinnott

saw lots of animals. walked a lot. it was tough to navigate with 9 adults and 5 kids. this day was on dad - he bought out zoo tix, our lunch and our dinner! very generous of the kind fella. had a great evening laughing with the relatives. sad though - everyone except us fly out tomorrow. dilip - nyc for a conference gillian - dublin to visit parents asha/mike - regina mom/dad - regina sunder - san jose for work rachel - tahoe for snow boarding me and flea will probably just take it easy - we're going out for dinner tomorrow. i bought these really cool puma sneakers but wore them around the house today and they are really tight - will exchange them tomorrow. take it easy. sn

SHOPPING!!! went to the mall today to get all those tasty post-xmas sales. it was kinda like going to disneyland - lots of people, line-ups and a limited pay-off. wierdest thing - ran into hart, anita and natasha molthagen there! hart looked thrilled being in a mall. bought an edun t-shirt from saks 5th ave. and a pair of puma shoes - asha and felicia bought a lot of stuff. after that went to the beach and another scenic place. beach was nice but pretty cold. went to some big expensive hotel for hot chocolate - it was right on the beach. now we are watching "in good company" which is a pretty good movie. i'm totally bagged - me and felicia are both falling asleep. saw lion, witch and wardrobe last night - it was good but not great. tomorrow - the zoo! "you're the kind of person that it's good to be in a foxhole with."

christmas in san diego is; going for a walk in the park in a t-shirt shopping (!) in a grocery store for last minute groceries for the big christmas dinner opening gifts reading the christmas story playing a game laughing enjoying my family and extended family being together in 1 place at 1 time brunch an extra-hot almond steamer with whip from starbucks! taking a time-out w. felicia and adam in our bed-room thanking god for this rich blessed life of which i am totally unworthy the malls and shops don't have to win in the christmas season. wherever people gather to remember the miracle of the incarnation, the christmas Spirit lives on. i always love that verse that says that mary pondered all these things in her heart. take an hour or 2 just to ponder on god and His grace. its' christmas time: there's no need to be afraid. we let in light and banish shade. amen.

day 3 in southern california. my sister and brother and their spouses scored tickets to the tonight show. when they showed up they were escorted to seats that were in the front row and center! they were 4 feet from leno during the monologue! they are also clearly seen throughout the show when the camera scanned the audience! lucky for them. spent yesterday in disneyland - which is pretty much a concentration of a lot of very american things: rampant consumerism, pleasure seeking and an abundance of fatty food. still it was felicia's first time so it was fun. going to a mega-church for xmas eve service tonight - its wierd to be having christmas when it is bright and sunny and over 20 degrees celsius outside. will post some pics later today. merry christmas - i will post a christmas homily tomorrow. blessings, sn "glories stream from heaven afar"

ventured into the downtown to run a few errands. picked up a cheque at the office that i needed to mail before the end of 2005. did some banking - picked up american $ for the trip - mailed a special gift to warren and carla - they said 2 business days but i don't know - keep your eyes peeled w&c. then hit the mall and it hit back - purdys chocoaltes - then banana republic for a belt for felicia - i also got her a shirt that was discounted from 105 to 25 - 80 bucks off! when i got to the register i asked the girl if the belts were on sale - she said some of them are but not this one - merry xmas charlie brown. then i went into chapters but the line-up appeared to circle the store a few times. gave felicia a treat- she's gone to see the matinee of pride and prejudice while i watch the boy - how nice of me - actually she lets me go out every wed. afternoon and catch a flick so it was about time i returned the favour. after today in downtown vancouver i could almost feel the t...

i forgot to mention that on sat. night we had a leadership team dinner and meeting - first@night covered dinner at the cactus club in yaletown (up to 20 bucks/person) - we're still on a budget. then we had a meeting at our place. then we played cranium which was pretty fun. today - prepared the jan-may overview for first@night. from jan-easter we are studying the character of jacob in genesis. then we have a palm sunday and easter services. then we study joseph until the end of may. it takes us 8 mths. to get through genesis! i also have a couple of guest speakers scheduled. also the last week of feb. and the first 2 weeks of march i am away. in feb. i am in calgary and in march i am in ireland and england! i've been invited by the baptist union to travel with a few other pastors to attend a conference in sheffield and then visit some emerging type churches in cork and dublin i think. i'm pretty psyched about it. got a couple of movies tonight - but felicia's pretty bag...

my next door neigbour ron is having his annual xmas party. felicia, adam and i dropped by after dinner. felicia had to work so she left fairly quickly - me and adam stayed a bit longer. got to know some of ron's friends - they are all professionals - accountants, doctors and lawyers (ron is a lawyer). ron's a really nice guy but he always talks to me about the most mundane things like paint colour or a new faucet that he is buying from rona for 15 bucks less then canadian tire. finished my new years day sermon - epiphany sermon - eph. 3:1-12 - gentiles are now on the same footing as jews - a radical repositioning - really the ushering in of a whole new era in human history. also did the service outline. tomorrow last day of work and then holidays! can't wait. "don't you know, things will change, things will go your way if you HOLD ON for one more day." - wilson phillips.

exegeted and studied eph. 3:1-12 today. did word studies on 3 greek words found in the text. ate japanese food for lunch. went to kiehls and put on some cream cuz my face was dry. got an extra hot almond steamed milk with whip. came home. played w. the boy and fell asleep on the couch. sat in the hot tub. updated this thing. will watch charile brown xmas and then empire strikes back. "i am a wretch saved by GRACE."

so i did my first "big" wedding. i had done a very very small wedding a couple of weeks ago - but this was the whole deal, wedding party 150 guests, everything. things went very well - my prayer and homily were fine but then!!!! when it came to the vows i could not find them in the little book i was holding - i had typed everything up onto small pieces of paper and placed them in a little black book so it would look a bit nicer, then me shuffling through loose sheets of paper, but all of a sudden the vows had disappeared. at one point i actually said i think we're going to have to wing it! the bride looked at me in horror and said, can't somebody go get them. at which point the best man went into the room that i had been in with the groomsmen to look for them. while he was gone, the vows suddenly reappeared in my little book! thank god. i had mentioned in my homily the importance of forgiveness so when i found them , i tapped the bride and said remember all that stuff...

yesterday was quite interesting. i had a wedding rehearsal booked for 4:00. at 3:30 a homeless guy shows up in the office - no shoes, no shirt. so i ask him what's going on - he tells me that he is sick and got thrown out of st, paul's hospital. the hospital calls me and explains that the guy was treated but then refused to leave. security had to physiclaly remove him and he left without his shirt or shoes. at this point the guy is lying down on the floor of my office trying to sleep. he gets up and we go and i find him some socks and shoes and a sweater. then he demands to see another pastor - i tell him that pastor will not be here for 3 hours and he should come back then - he then gets belligerent and starts yelling at me - "i can't believe you people treat me like this!" he's now storming down the hall towards the exit - as he's leaving i tell him - "alex this is probably why you were kicked out of the hospital - you can't treat people like t...

me and the boy this morning. he was yelling very loudly for no apparent reason. he also read his book: runaway bunny. went to regent to take out a few commentaries for my sermon on new years day - epiphany sunday - i am preaching on eph. 3:10-18 about how the gospel is now available to gentiles. bought the ephesians word biblical commentary by lincoln for 60 bucks! yikes. they have started the expansion of regent - digging up the whole front part. started reading the complete short stories of flannery o connor. also working out details for our san diego trip - looks like we may have a chance to see the last taping of the tonight show for 2005 through a family friend. cool. not much else. oh - went for a run yesterday - felt quite proud of myself. going to try to workout tomorrow morning. have a wedding rehearsal tomorrow as well - yipee. sn i know i got potential somewhere.

this was one of those rare weekends. we were together - all three of us for friday, saturday and sunday. we probably haven't had a week-end like this in months - at least since first@night was launched in the fall. friday we stuck around mainly at home. yesterday we went to canada place and got on this little train that takes you to santa's workshop and then adam met santa. we did a bit of shopping and then back home for pizza and a movie. finished "unstoppable force" by erwin mckmanus - superb book .highly recommended to all pastors out there. also finished "renovation of the heart" by dallas willard - also a good book but a bit of a challenge. reading sacred marriage by gary thomas - probably the best book on marriage i have ever come across - no fluff at all. today we went for a walk on the sea-wall - bright bright sunshine - reminding me of saskatchewan but minus the miserable cold. "I am up a sycamore Looking through the leaves A sinner of some pos...

woke up this morning with a sore throat and a feeling of absolute exhaustion - i attribute it to a 14 hr. workday yesterday that tried to cram too many meetings into too short a time. so took the day off and just rested - read, burned some cds for friends, slept, drank san pellegrino with lime. the boy was quite affectionate - i think its because he doesn't usually see me during the day so he was showing his affection - very nice. going to watch fantastic 4 tonight - it has crappy reviews but it was produced by my friend ralph winter and a girl from first@night is in it. tomorrow - family day! yay. "i talk to you. walk away. see the worst. say you like it. you can't say it if you're running from yourself."

the anne rice review yesterday is by jamie-arpin ricci from winipeg - this is a link to his blog: www.emergentvoyageurs.blog.com he is a fine fellow.

today a review of anne rice's new novel by my friend and fellow blogger jamie: When I heard that novelist Anne Rice, author of the famous Vampire Chronicles, was writing a novel about the early years of Jesus Christ, I was skeptical. When I read that it was being written in first person from Jesus own perspective, I was intrigued. I had heard that Rice had returned to the Roman Catholic faith of her youth in the late 1990's, but had not followed her life or writing in several years. I picked up the hardcover "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt" on my way out to YWAM Vancouver for a week of teaching, expecting an interesting, if not provocative read. As is my habit, I stayed away from interviews and reviews until I had read the book, wanting to experience the work with as few preconceived ideas as possible. However, with an author such as Rice, it was hard not to expect, well not the worst, as Rice is an excellent writer and a phenomenal historical researcher- I expected so...

so today was a bit of a grind - very very difficult staff meeting - some very delicate issues bouncing around the church. in the middle of the meeting i was just overcome at how messy and complicated ministry can be. without the grace of god and his wisdom i am screwed - actually we are all screwed without him helping us out. and then this afternoon someone in the office just decided to put the office server in my office - i didn't really mind as i have a pretty large office but after it was installed i realized that it gives off a very low humming and buzzing sound - its just enough to get under my skin and put me on edge. i thought maybe i could wait until the end of the week and see how i'm doing but after 10 minutes i had a headache and was grinding my teeth and starting to feel homocidal. i went out and asked someone if we could move it into an office where someone else is there only half the time - they didn't seem too hyp;ed about moving it again. so i just gritted m...

check out james blunt - he performed on saturday night live this past week. i watched each of his songs 3 times over and over. i have never been so moved by a performance before - those of you know me, know i am a media junky - lots of movies, music, books, magazines, newspapaers and web-sites passing before my eyes and through my ears everyday. so you know that it is significant if i tell you this guy is amazing! he sings with passion and pathos - if any of you are in vancouver i will gladly have you over to watch these 2 performances that i have on tape. last first@night of the year last night. i was quite surprised that we had only about 35 people! our lowest # yet and we were in the sanctuary. i'm not sure why that was especailly considering this was a regular evening advent service as well. had a real worship band! spencer led, mylene accompanied, michael was on congas and eric on piano - sounded very good, especially in the sanctuary. sermon went well - the prodigal son - one...

i conducted my first wedding today. it was for an older iranian couple named ali and zahara (that's them above with their pastor) - they are very poor and don't have many friends in vancouver. in fact - they were'nt going to have any family and friends at their wedding! so i told my bible study group and some of the leaders at first@night. a couple of awesome girls - mylene and amy helped out. mylene is an esthetician, so she did zahara's make-up, hair and nails - she looked beautiful. mylene also played the wedding recessional and processional! amy decorated the small chapel at the church - it looked really nice. felicia and amy were the witnesses and signed the registry and the official license. i got a temporary license for december to do the wedding and then another wedding on the 15th - (you were right nick - i got the date wrong). i think the i did ok - i mean there were only 5 other people in the room - and that included the bride and groom! its actually pretty e...

started off with brunch with the fam. at the templeton - then we went to see the christmas tree displays at the 4 seasons - they look cool. then i hung out in chapters with the boy while felicia returned some stuff at the gap. we had this card that gives us 30% off evertyhing in the store - including sale items. i got a shirt that was marked down from 65$ to 16$ - with the discount i paid like 12$! when stuff goes on sale at the gap it is quite cheap. did some reading - also saw an old dutch potato chip truck today - does anyone still eat those chips? i remember them from when i was a kid but now i would think that lays and pringles would have won the market. check out the king kong trailer -/www.kingkongmovie.com looks pretty good.