Author: Barbara Burkard

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Counting the Cost

Saw this sign this afternoon:img_3421I was surprised. It immediately brought to mind Jesus’ story (Luke 14:25-33):

Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

Clearly, Jesus says we need to count the cost. We need to know the cost right up front and we need to be ready to pay it.

If you are going to love you need to know there will be a cost! The difficulty is that there is no way to really know what the cost will be. Jesus told us over and over, “Love one another as I have loved you.”  Jesus knew the cost of love and he was ready to pay it. All the way to death on a cross.

I think that sign would more closely align to Jesus’ teaching if it said, “Love counts the cost and is willing to pay the price.”

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My new home

Truth is, I hate moving! And I’ve done it too often and expect I will do it again. I certainly have too much stuff. Yet it is hard to decide what to keep and what to get rid of.

Plus, this time around I developed a sore throat and awful cough on moving day. As none of us are as young as we used to be, so I doubt I was the only one with a sore back on Saturday evening. As I did not have to have everything moved in one day, there is still moving to do.

Nonetheless, I do like my new home. I need to get more creative with storage (or get rid of more stuff yet), but the view out my windows is lovely. Billie is settling in nicely, though when we hear Lynn upstairs she gets concerned.

The walking is so nice. The Grand River Trail is just a few hundred meters from my door. I worry about meeting unleashed dogs as I know lots of people like to let their dogs run on these trails and Billie just doesn’t do well with other dogs. But we’ve been OK so far.

The strangest thing is my current lack of connections. My cell phone reception is very spotty and I have no other internet yet. Imagine, we used to always live this way.

Pictures will come when I have a better internet connection.

And now I have internet! Just a few pictures:

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Moving

10mcalisterdr-bloomingdaleI moved into this building at 30 Avalon Place eight years ago to be near my mother. She lived, prior to going to the nursing home three years ago, just down the hall from me. I remember walking up the stairs one day after signing the deal on this place and feeling sick at the thought of living here. I really hadn’t ever lived in an apartment building before, always a house, with a back yard and all. But I did want Mom to be able to stay in her own place for as long as possible. And I did that.

Though I have never liked the building as a whole, I have liked my bright and sunny unit and Mom’s unit overlooking the park where we would see deer and glorious sunsets. For the first seven years the traffic noise from the expressway in front of my place was a problem. But last year they finished the sound barrier so that has improved significantly though traffic is always the background accompaniment.

So with Mom no longer here and a sound barrier making the place for sale-able, I decided it was time to get out. Next weekend I will be moving to Bloomingdale.

I hate moving, quite frankly. But I don’t want to be here any longer.

I’m going to miss the neighbourhood. The parks with their woods and pond and assorted wildlife, the walk to Simon & Christine’s house, Myron next door, Cheryl and Karl both within walking distance. But I will gain an almost rural living again. I will be a short walk from the Grand River and it’s trails. I will be further from work but closer to church. Perhaps I’ll be able to have a garden again. Always in life there are pros and cons. You take your pick and live with the consequences.

And so I am grateful for the opportunity to move, in a sense, to start over once again. God is with me.

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California, August ’16

Once again I got to spend 10 days with my favourite grandchildren, including Volker’s 3rd birthday. Here are some pictures: