foxes have holes and birds have nests...

To celebrate the birthdays of Jason and I (Brendan), the House Famous decided to do the whole birthday party thing a little differently. This past weekend we traveled to Ottawa to take part in an experiment of perspective: we slept on the streets of Ottawa.
We arrived in Ottawa around 6 pm and proceeded to enjoy the finer things of life first. We ate dinner at the Clock Tower Brew Pub (their homemade beer is awesome!) and had a more traditional celebration with gifts and whatnot. We then payed our bill and hit the streets. We, along with our friend Liz, walked from the Brew Pub in the Glebe to just outside Parliament where we split up into pairs and separated to go explore our nations capitol. It must be known that it was a chilly night and so the conditions for sleeping on the street were not necessarily ideal, so most of the night was spent looking for things to do until sleep was the only option left. Todd and Taylor panhandled for change (with Taylor racking up an impressive $4), and Jay and I ended up on quite an adventure that certainly deserves a blog entry of its own, but long story short we met up with old friends, walked to Hull and back, watched parts of the baseball game at a homeless shelter and slept in the Ecclesiax parking lot from 3:30 am to about 7 am.
Sleeping was difficult, if at all possible. By the time most of us tried to sleep there was already frost on the ground and even those of us with sleeping bags and large coats got very little sleep as we spent most of the time shivering and wiping our noses. The following morning all of us reunited back in the Glebe at a lovely establishment called the Wild Oat where we ate breakfast and told stories of the experiences we had had the night before. Afterward we went to Ecclesiax for church and then drove home.

Although we haven't fully debriefed our night of homelessness as a house I think it's safe to say that the experience had a big impact on all of us. As winter approaches it's become very clear to us that we don't want anyone to sleep on the street in the cold and we will be particularly aware of helping those who may be in a similar situation this coming season. Oh, and Jay and I agreed that this was by far the most interesting birthday we have yet to have :D.

Welcome Taylor!

Well, we're not too quick around here, but my Grandpa always used to say "better late than never!".

The House Famous would like to officially welcome Taylor Eby as our newest member. Taylor will be doing an internship for a few months with us here in Kingston. We are already really enjoying having him around the house, and are excited to see what kind of mischief he will get into!

We don't have any pictures of Taylor yet, but in the meantime, here is a picture of what you get when you search "taylor eby" on google images. It's relatively accurate, what with Taylor's interest in music; thats my opinion. Welcome Taylor!!!

Free Food!

RETREAT!!!

This past weekend, House Famous took a step back in order to get some perspective and look forward. We retreated to Ben's grandparent's cottage (Thank you Gresiks!!!), where we spent some time reflecting on the past few months, and dreaming about what the future could hold. We looked into God's word, prayed for each other and discerned the direction of our next few actions. We also ate really well, and watched awesome movies. For your viewing pleasure, here is a snapshot of what our time away from home was like:

ever onwards

The House Famous is now 1 year old. I thought it was worthwhile to acknowledge that since it seems like only yesterday that 4 of us moved in together in downtown Kingston with really no idea of what was going to happen or if this community was going to last any amount of time at all. But, nevertheless, God has kept us here on York and we now start this year with a full plate and we pray that He continues to bless us and have mercy as we try to find Jesus in the people and places that have been ignored by the broken culture we live in.

So we shall continue to progress with joy in the faith as we continue to ask God to change us and free us into the people He wants us to be.

Here we go again!

PROTEST BOMB-MAKER’S PROFIT FROM CANADIAN CENSUS!

In 2006, Lockheed-Martin (an American weapons manufacturer and direct profit-maker from the war in Iraq) was paid millions of Canadian tax-dollars for census data collection software and services. If you don’t want this American bomb-maker profiting from the next Canadian Census (coming soon!), let our government officials know!

LETTER WRITING PROTEST
SUNDAY AUGUST 17th 1pm to 11pm
@the Sleepless Goat Café
91 Princess Street, Kingston
Come write or sign letters, learn more about Lockheed Martin and tell our elected officials your opinion on this important issue!

IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE EVENT, PLEASE CHECK OUT:

http://www.census2011notbombs.blogspot.com/

Joseph's Coat of Many Colours

Tonight we prayed through a passage of Genesis 37 using a form of prayer called Lectio Divina. We read the passage a few times through, once to listen for a word or phrase, a second time to capture an image of scene of scripture, and a third time to hear what sense the Holy Spirit could make of it all for us.

The passage of dealing with Joseph getting thrown into a well and then getting sold to the Ishmaelites is one we had heard often in Sunday School, however with some prayerful reading in a community of believers, it became all the more rich. We thought about how money was able to appease the bloodlust of Joseph's brothers, much like it does in the rich, materialistic Western World, where we look down on poorer nations for their barbaric killing. Perhaps it's only the comfort of our money that lets us seem peaceful towards one another. We also pondered who the man was who met Joseph when he was wandering in the fields, he knew Joseph's name and where his brothers were staying. Most of our thoughts ended up pointed right at ourselves and our own situations. This is a good thing as if scripture is supposed to be living and active, sharper than any double edged sword, I imagine that sword is best put to use when pointed at our own hearts.