Christmas 2006 to the twenty o-seven

Christmas comes and Christmas goes, but every year it is a little different. 2006 held some significant differences worth mentioning...

The worst difference was not seeing Ori at all. This is the first time our family has been short a member over the holiday season. He's in Lethbridge and was unable to come because of work, and when I think about it, the whole season lacked an Ori style flavor and without that it just was not as tasty. Ori, I miss you dude. WE missed you. Actually, it was the first Christmas that anyone in the Peter and Margret Penner family was missing from the celebration that happens every year.

Thankfully, someone else came along to the Penner Christmas so the numbers were still even. She's not as tall as Ori, and not anywhere as ninja as Ori, but just as cool, plus ascute as ori is, shes got him beat. And just to top it off, shes got psycho mad Card playing agility. Look out, Danny :) If you haven't guessed already, Caitlin Wilson came along this year, another family first. I actually got really nervous about her coming the day before, (don't ask why, I dunno, it was wierd) but it was so dang awesome she came! The whole family loved having her there and were really glad to get to know her. I beat her at cards pretty much all day.....by all day I mean twice in one day, which was better than my usual average. One of my younger cousins Danny reminded us of her twin brothers. Danny and Caitlin were pretty good friends by the time that was over, they bonded over the "Weird Game". How neat :)

Chrstmas day I spent the morning at home and then was over at the Wilsons for the morning, what a cool experience that was! Being with them opening up presents was loads of fun. This was the first year I was with another family for Christmas, which was good. I couldn't stay the whole day but the time I could was fantabulous. Then I went back home, my moms cousins were up, I haven't seen one of them for like 8 years, and the other one like...16 years. For real. The older one, Pete, is big time Metallica and music and what not, took me back a few years to my Metallica days. Wow was I hardcore, heh. We played Balderdash, that is a classic Neufeld christmas event, always results in hilarity and vocabular silliness.

Caitlin had her birthday on the 26th, and after hanging out at the wrong hill for an hour or so I made my way over the the right hill where they were sledding. It was all good though cause a dislexic (sp?) kid rode his tube into a clump of trees and I got to help drag him on his tube back up the hill. it was a TOTAL BODY WORKOUT! I should sell videos, but I can't count to 8. No wait thats aerobics. Anywhoo, went back to her place and played some connect 4, some sequence and watched some Music Videos. Amy Grant and Steven Curtis Champman are still rollin strong folks by the way. That was a fun fun night.

I had to set my alarm in order to wake up on time for the 11 oclock service at church today, which speaks volumes about my bedtimes. The drill has been sleep at 3 up at noon for at least a week now... Thats gonna have to break soon.

These were the events of Christmas, and I declare them good. Twas good.

Twas is a great word.

Twas time I found some peeps to usher in 07 with!

May we give all glory, honor, praise, thanks, and worship to God the father, Jesus the son, and the Holy Spirit in the new year, and every year after. God Reigns and is returning soon! Woohoo!

Kaleb Penner out!

Dirt for Lunch / Breathe

Jesus Birthday celebration was crazy in the usual way this year; since the 22nd of December I have yet to be asleep before 2:30 am, there are a thousand people to see, family of course and then the friends who are back home for a week or so. It is complete awesome in so many ways, and yet it is also draining, and here I am on the 30th of December, and I still feel Jesus is somewhat absent from the scene.

Well, actually, if its Jesus' birthday party, then he's gonna be there. Maybe its me who is absent.

I spent today recovering so to speak. Woke up at 11:20 and left the house once with Bran Muffin to grab another PS3 controller. We beat Resistance: Fall of Man this morning, just as a side note. We stopped a Global mutant viral outbreak in the 1940s. It was way cool ;) Heheh. Anyway, I did some reading too, Confessions by Saint Augustine. Gonna dig that book, I can tell you right now.

Ok, so anyway I had started pacing and making quarter hearted attempts at cleaning up minor messes in my room and the kitchen, symptoms that I am restless and something is out of whack. I had been in a rough mental battle almost the whole day and so I finally decided to step outside for a little walk. I had taken 5 steps out the door and everything changed. I'm sure the contrast in air quality between inside and outside played a factor... But it was a clear night, the moon and stars were beaming brightly...

I was standing on top of a big pile of snow made by the wonderful snow removal people in the middle of a culdesac and I had a moment where I found myself in a city with 50 thousand other people, in a country with 33 million people, in a world with 6.some billion more people. It dawned on me that I was the only one in those 6.some billion people that knew where I was or what I was doing.

And then there was another moment where I thought about those 6.some billion people on earth that I don't know anything about. And then I started thinking about people I do know, but how much do I really know about those people? A few conversations I have had lately have proven how little I actually know about some people. And myself? How much do I know myself? Sometimes I'm not sure I know myself all that well either!

AND THEN!!! I thought of my God, our God, The LIVING GOD, who spoke this earth into existence. Created it all. Created the sun, the moon the stars, the constellations, the galaxies. All of it. Each person who ever walked, walks, and ever will walk this earth, he knows each person completely, without exception. He knows every single other being alive right now AND IS CONCERNED WITH EACH ONE!!! How can this be? I cannot even find the time to be concerned with myself, and yet he watches AND is involved in the lives of everyone. Does not a single sparrow fall to the ground without his knowing it? THERE ARE LIKE A BILLION SPARROWS!!! THERE ARE LIKE A BILLION PEOPLE!!! Does this not blow anyone elses mind? This is our God! He is in all of creation; thats trees and flowers and bulls and turtles and shrimp and air and dirt and sun and water and solar systems and jupiter and eyeballs and apples and music and sunsets and quitness and laughter and farts and EVERYTHING....And YET! NOT ALL OF CREATION can contain the fullness of God! The totality of creation does not paint a full enough picture! And he is GOOD! Can you imagine a god of this magnitude on the loose if he was bad? That would be terrible! But its not terrible because he is a GOOD GOD who DOES WHAT HE WANTS! And he does it all the time and its always GOOD! He gives endlessly and yet is always full! He knows every thought you have ever thought. He knows every thought ANYONE has EVER even Thought about thinking!

I thought all those things and many more not written here, but God knows them ;) and I thought about this: Why do I even bother thinking of myself when I could be thinking about God? This is a legitimate question. God is far awesomer and cooler to think about than I can even think about dreaming about comprehending about fathoming, let alone ever coming close to being. I could be thinking about God all the time, but instead I think about myself! How stupid! In all honesty, that is like someone who is offered a seat at a kings banquet saying, "Gee, thanks, but you know what, I think I am going to just sit down right here and have a few handfuls of dirt. Man do I love dirt! Especially this dirt, this is some top notch D.I.R.T. No really! Wanna try some?"

So I thought about all these things. And then I just stood on top of my road snow mountain and looked up

And breathed a few times.

And this was the closest to rest as I have gotten all christmas.

Thank you Jesus for coming to show us there is more to life than us and more to you than what we could ever fully know. Thanks for saving us from dirt for lunch, and making a way for the father to set a place for us at his table and for being the way we can accept that invitation.

A good day

Monday, December 18th was a good day. It was good because I was reminded of 2 really important things, and I found something I lost a while ago.

I spent the morning with a drill in my mouth at the dentist office. It was exciting, just as always. My favorite part is when you have the rubber dam in your mouth and you need to swallow but you just....can't. I love it! Its a thrill every time. Its almost as fun as having half of your mouth frozen for a good chunk of the day. Oh bliss.

I drove home and read and showered and such and then spent the rest of the afternoon with Caitlin. We chatted, ate, checked out some sweet (and some "stupid") guitars and a pawn shop and some other stuff. During one of our conversations she said "Worry is sin." Well, I have been living in that sin for a week or so, and yesterday she totally exposed some of the ways I had been thinking for what they really were, Worry and Doubt. I didn't even realize it either. That was an awesome and much needed reminder! Spending the day with her was really good, I appreciate her a lot.

Then I went cleaning which was wonderful. I like that job. Glen is a funny man. His Sean Paul impressions are astounding, and I don't think I will ever forget the time I was all alone in Kelseys cleaning the back, and as I am looking down the hall, a lemon all of a sudden rolls around the corner. It was one of the strangest sights I have ever sighted. No Joke, completely random out of nowhere. Then 5 seconds later Glen's mug pokes out from behind the wall with a huge grin on his face. "Dat Lemon! She rolls a goooood!" I had no Idea he had even come in! What times...

Brandon and I went for a Jog and talked, we jogged for a k or so. Then we got back to my car and I hopped on the top and he leaned against it and we both just checked out the stars. It was an amazing night last night. And thats what I found that I had lost. I lost the peace that comes with just sitting still for a few minutes. I hadn't done that for a while, and I was hurting for it. It was so good to know that God is big and there and beyond my littleness.

gotta go!

KP

Aliens in my Chest

Its 4:51 AM and for the last hour I have been writhing to differing degrees in response to varying levels of akward pains in the dead centre of my chest. I can't sleep because of it and so I thought I would make the most of this situation. I guess that means blogging.

So based on my albeit limited knowledge of biological symptoms and medical facts, I conclude these pains to be the result of unkown alien life forms taking up resident in my chest. This is terribly unfortunate for me, as Aliens are gross and disgusting (though usually friendlier than most...) and they now reside within my being. They are either growing or just having a party. There is no rhythm or musical element to the pangs of pain, nor does my blood alcohol levels seem to be on the rise, and so I do not believe this to be an alien party. They must be getting bigger, thats all. No worries! By this time next week they should be climbing out of the large hole they have eaten in my chest and seeking out the nearest Subway restraunt to get a real meal for once; my internal organs by no means constitute any sort of fine dining, regardless of planet of origin.

So when you hear news reports about the alien invasion around this time next week, you can tell all your friends that you knew this was coming, and they will all marvel at your social connection skills and be jealous of your ability to secure insider information. Everyone will want to slam a Red Bull with you! GO TEAM! The smart ones out there are going to make ten thousand T-Shirts and start the media hype right now, so you can score some big profits. What about me? No, I don't mind you making some cash on the side. I already have the joy of providing room and board for beings from another solar system. That is more precious than gold or silver friends. I truly am a lucky man. I can hardly wait to see them burst out of my ribcage so I can greet them properly! Hey! I wonder if this is what it is like being pregnant! My parents will be so pround of me! Their oldest son! PREGNANT! It might be hard having aliens for grandchildren. Especially if they turn out to have laser guns and try to eat all of mankind, but its in those times we learn the virtue of patience and unconditional love! Always be positive, thats what ol Herman used to say. That was before he got hit by lightning. Twice. We always joked about how he must have been a little TOO positive, oh hoh hoh! A little science jib for ya folks.

Well, I think I might be able to rest now. I hope. I want to be a good host for my personal invaders! Hey, what do you get little chest aliens for christmas? Chestnuts? Toblerone? A Ferrari?

A tale for the ages...

Reading further may cause irreparable damage to the brain and an unfounded fear of white porcelan. I am listening to Depeche Mode right now and that seems to be thereputic to some extent, but let me assure you this will be a long healing process.

I don't think I need to go into dramatic detail.

I Recieved a call at my grandparents house from my taller than average roommate who goes by the alias Steven Hopper. Thats not his real name. Its gotta be Pablo or something. Anyway, I grab the phone from my grandmother and put the reciever to my ear and recieve the transmission.

"Kaleb...we have a slight problem"

Thats not so bad, I can handle slight problems. But something is amiss, I can feel it. The ten seconds of silence following tell me that indeed this is no slight problem, but in fact a super problem.

"The toilet is stuck in reverse."

Immediately one question comes to mind, and indeed the future of all mankind hinges on the cataclysmic answer. I can hardly utter the words, my mind reeling at the apocalyptic implications. Dare I even ask? I stand Paralyzed...but what is this? breath rising, lips forming words. I hear myself voice the fatal query.

"Is there poop?"

I hold my breath along with all of creation, the universe suspended in sheer anticiapation. Awaiting my fate, my soul looks skyward from its mortal shell and sighs an appeal for divine providence to save the day.

"Dude...we got poop."

Indeed these are dark days. The end is coming. The abominationt that causes desolation has surfaced in my bathroom, and surely if God had not cut these days short, many would perish.

Alright, that was the most dramatic I've gotten in a while. Yes this actually did happen, yes there was poop, and YES, I have some awesome roommates who had everything cleaned by the time I got back from my basketball game. So thanks Brandon and Steve, you guys rule.

I love sleep. I wish I could sleep for 3 days, waking up every three hours to savor the fact that I still have hours of sleep ahead. That is like heaven.

Heard a great message about the virgin birth the other day. Isaiah said to Isaiah the prophet to go to King Ahaz and tell him to ask God for a sign, any sign he wanted. Ahaz blew that one, saying "I will not put the LORD to the test." What an idiot. I mean he was quoting scripture there, but he knew that if God gave him a sign he would have to change his ways. So he covered it up with "spirituality" mm mm mm, shouldn't do that. God is not impressed and says, fine. I will give you a sign anyway. The virgin shall be with child, and he shall be called Immanuel (God with us) And the nature of the sign reveals the nature of God. Because the virgin birth is indeed an incredible miracle. But how would you know? How can you see that sign? Its right in front of us, yet its hidden. This is the nature of our God, hiding signs and revelations of his glorious being all around us, all the time. And he does this so we may seek him, and find him.

May you seek God and seek him with all your heart. And may you find him in the most incredible and simple and hidden and special way. And may you find him right under your nose.

And may your toilet not become a volcano :)
Peace be with you!