The International Ice Cream Day is Coming!!!

July 17th is coming. Now I know that may not actually be the international ice cream day...and neither do I actually know if there even is an international ice cream day but I do know that the entire Wood family gathers on this day and together has an icecream in memory of my Dad.


David Vincent Britten Wood VII


Yup no matter where we are on the planet... sometimes we were in italy, other times Peru... some were in Costa Rica while others were in Phoenix... where ever we find ourselves we gather and celebrate together a life well lived.


So now all those who are reading this blog, choose this July 17 to stop and have an icecream and in doing so choose to live your life well. Choose to climb the next mountain you can, fish the next stream, kiss the next loved one you see and thank the God who has given it all to you.


And by enjoying that icecream may your life be creamy and smoothy, may your troubles only be ripples, your love life be tiger tiger, and if in your life you come across moose tracks, follow them.  And when you find yourself on a rocky road, stop for a moment and make mud pie.

Have a great ICE CREAM day

Father's Day

The Sounds of Wet Canvas

The days were always exciting as we prepared for a trip. My father would go into the storage area and be greeted by a group of old friends; the camping equipment that was so near and dear to his heart. The Old one, the Packer Nelson pack board complete with its canvas bag holding fast to it's wooden frame. Packer Nelson, of course, was in charge. He was the oldest and had the most to share, the longest miles to remember. Stories that could turn your hair grey he would say. We believed.

Following behind Packer Neldon was the Egyptian Silk Pup Tent. Delicate and fine you could almost hear her sigh as she was once again allowed to flutter and flash her robins egg blue cloth in the wind. Released from a year tied tightly, the joy that she shared as she burst out of her confinment was infecteous and joyfilled. Last, of course, was the Coleman stove, and his sidekick the red gas can. Dented and bruised he was right where he always was just inside the green lid under the grill, blacked by years of use. Together they were the always the quiet ones. Always there together, always ready to serve but above all... always dangerous.  Little people were wise to steer a wide berth around these two, and we did.


Carefully like a gentle friend my father would lay each item out behind the house on the grass . Yearly this right of passage would act itself out again as each piece was brought out from it's long winter hibrenation. Each item, the axe, the hat, the boots restless to once again tell it's own story. Stories that if you listened you could hear them share with each other and they greeted each other after a long winter away. Together once again they spoke,  as one by one they were squeezed into the backbacks.

As the stories were told and as Father prepared for all the lay ahead, I could feel the excitement growing in my heart. One can of white gas? Check. Pots, Pans, Plates and Cutlery? Check. Sleeping bag, socks, clothes, and hat? Check. All the old friends ready and willing to once again go on a great adventure.

Each item carefully noted and carefully readied for the backpacks. Each provision prepared, each friend reaquainted. After all this noise, I knew, I just knew it would be my dad's turn. His turn to translate all the noise into stories I could understand. Stories to dream about, to capture my young imagination and release it onto a waiting world. Stories from the sounds of wet canvas. 

“A boy has a lot to learn in his journey to become a man, and he becomes a man only through the active intervention of his father and the fellowship of men. It cannot happen any other way…
This we must understand: masculinity is bestowed.”

Today it is the smells that I remember the best. From the musty pine smell to the smell of the muskoil coating the boots. Each smell today is just outside my memory, waiting patiently for that moment when a single whiff memories will rush back bringing back a flood of memories and with them... my Dad. Once again he will be standing beside me... once again, surveying all the supplies.

Today on this fathers day, my father's voice is silent, his words are no longer readily available to hear. Today I listen for the sound of another young man growing into his boots. In among the volume and noise, the hustle and hurray of a graduation from his highschool, there hangs an old Packer Nelson Pack Board, now safely resting in my garage. Waiting once again for a new set of young ears to lean in real close and listen carefully for the sounds of wet canvas.

Hiding Behind His Blessings

Recently I was speaking on passage of scripture from Genesis where God was looking for his son Adam. The scripture says, as God was calling his name, Adam did something that we all do.

"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

It was then that an amazing thought hit me. Did you see it? It's right there after they heard the sound of the father calling their name. Yes..right there after God was walking in the cool of the day... wanting to commune as friend to friend with his child. Did you see it?

Adam and Eve hid behind beauty of the garden to keep themselves away from the presence of God. They used the presents that God had given them to keep their hearts away from the presence of their father.

Oh how often we do the same thing. We have an experience with God as a child or a youth and then spend the rest of our lives hiding behind that beautiful presents of fruit laydened fruit trees and flower covered bushes and plants in order to keep our hearts away from the present presence of God.

I am constantly aware that God is not into yesterday, although he is the God of yesterday and neither is He into tomorrow although once again he is the God of tomorrow, but God is primarily the God of today. With fresh, fruit, and new release waiting for us to discover. Oh may each of us, reading this, discover what our Dad has in store for us today.

(a) What is your personal philosophy of ministry? My personal philosophy of
ministry is two fold.

1. To
be an example to the world of a sinner saved and sanctified by the power and
love of God and through my words and actions reflect Christ and lead others to
Him.
2. To
be a leader that discovers, develops and released David’s mighty men of Valour.


(b)Do you have a personal mission statement?

1. To
live my life with the theme from Ecc. 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do,
do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is
neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

(c) What is it in ministry that produces the greatest sense of joy and/or
fulfillment?

Mentoring, mentoring, mentoring. I believe that the ones that God gives men
are the men that will change the world.

(d) What is it in ministry that you have found to be most challenging?

The internal struggles and disagreements that undermine the truth of the
Gospel with those who we are around and those who are watching from afar.

Gal 5:13 You,
my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the
sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

(e) What would be some key advice that you would pass on to a graduate about
to enter into vocational ministry?

Sheep stink. Not because they intend to stink in order to get under your
skin but rather because they are sheep. Get used to leading the smelly church
and don’t ever assume that the stench that you are experiencing is anything
other than life. Live your ministry with your grip on held lightly. Don’t ever
believe the reports that you hear on Sunday whether good or bad. They are all
lying. Believe the one you hear on Tuesday morning at Tim Horton’s.

(f) What do you see as a major weakness in the North American Church right
now?

The acceptance of Jesus as our saviour without accepting him as our Lord.
Flowing out of that, the lack of Holiness, purity, integrity, honesty, and
personal accountability. Today it’s always someone else’s fault for your issue.