Hi Internet Party People,
Noah Patrick Stelmach
. Welcome, Intern!!!
tume Nominees.
This week four House Famous members will be deeply entrenched at an arts camp called "make" at Rustle Church. Please be praying for us and the kids who have to put up with us! It would be nice if Jesus and His Spirit paid us a visit.
Chelsea and I just returned from a cross country tour to see my brother's family, especially our new niece, Keziah. We were very pleased. He has a beautiful family that really refreshed us as we drove through our vast country.
Yet another successful freedom sale was had at the House Famous this weekend. Despite rain cutting our yard sale short, we were able to raise $505.05 for the new Joseph Street Supportive Housing Complex (final product envisioned above). This will help furnish One and a half units of the 24 unit building, which is great, but work still needs to be done.
It's that time of year again! Saturday June 20th we will be performing the sequel to last year's very successful FREEDOM SALE. Last year we were able to raise over $500 for the Crisis Pregnancy Centre.
My hometown is in Cornwall, Ontario. I used to hate this town, and couldn't wait to get away and find greener pastures. Recently, however, I've come to understand that it has a special place in my heart that can move me deeply in an instant. A story I read today on cbc.ca was one of those moments.The House Famous got away for a bit this weekend...
We retreated to a safe place north of the city to relax, refocus and get to know each other better. It was a blessing and a tonne of fun. When the eight of us get together we have a blast. And Jesus teaches us stuff. Here is a video of some of our celebration.
Last weekend we planted our garden. This is the second year we've had a garden and as such, it is our most ambitious attempt yet. This is the year we learn to share with our landlord Stan. He always fills a garden, that's larger than ours, with roma tomatoes and hot peppers. For some reason last year I thought we should grow our own tomatoes. Some of ours rotted on the vine and he gave away tonnes to neighbours and friends. This year, we swung a deal. We'll grow cucumbers in our garden (which Stan loves, but for some reason doesn't grow) and he'll grow the tomatoes in his. And we'll share. What a concept!
Dumpster diving is pretty darn awesome. This past weekend we got probably 30 feet of carpet from a hotel renovation, and then shortly thereafter we got a huge garbage bag of fresh bread. It's odd, on one hand it's a fun thing you can do with your friends that also cuts down on your grocery bill. Or on the other hand you can think about how incredibly wasteful and excessive our culture is, so much so that some people can actually live off of the excess of others.
But still guilty as charged.
We lost our cool green stove. The front right burner (the big useful one) burnt out. And as it turns out, according to Stanlord, this oven had been in use since 1966. Seriously, they don't make them like that anymore. Plus they stopped making burners and such for this model in 1986 as well. It lived a good life. I imagine it's in Mexico or Europe right now, enjoying oven retirement. That's beautiful.
So, it's all over until April 6th, when the judge will make his final decision on the matter.
Sunday is drop-in day. In February we've been conducting an experiment to see if offering our house up as a drop-in for our homeless friends is helpful in our Fruit Basket (another name for the criss-crossed streets North of Princess) community. We started with lunch after church, for which we had between one and six people show up for about half an hour to eat soup with us. Then one of our guests recommended opening our doors between 5:30pm-8pm when all other downtown drop-ins are closed. Our friends on the street have a much better understanding of what is needed than we will ever know, so we changed our times. This Sunday we had a great time with 6 different people over the full two and half hours allotted to our drop-in. I hope next week is even more fruitful! 
We at the House Famous are very pleased to announce that we will quite soon have two new housemates! Shannon and Andrew will be joining our little experiment of faith and love in the coming weeks. We are very blessed to have them, and are excited to see how God will build them up and into our community! We also anticipate many hijinx and rumbles and crafts and debates to ensue promptly after they move in.
This will probably turn out to be an odd post...
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far along the way, thou who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path, we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee. Shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand -- true to thee, O God, and true to our native land.
For we know that, Lord, you're able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor or the least of these and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.
We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that, yes, we can work together to achieve a more perfect union. And while we have sown the seeds of greed -- the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.
And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.
And as we leave this mountaintop, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.
We go now to walk together, children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone, with your hands of power and your heart of love.
Help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid; when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right.
Let all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen!
