"Scarborough Teens Speak Up about Gun Crime"

Here is another essay Cassie did about Toronto gun violence involving some of our youth, Clayon and Joel (left). If you remember there were 5 shootings in this area last year. Check out what these guys had to say - here

Random ministry pics v3 - Photo Essay

About a month ago a good friend of mine, Cassie Jeysman, asked if she could do a project for school....about me. Cassie is a journalism student at the University of Toronto, but more importantly lives 2 doors down from my parents :) Cassie took pictures and wrote about our ministry - here. Check it out! You can see pictures of some of the guys we've been working with, who have been coming out over the past few years to youth events, and on Sunday to church. Please pray, as we are now attending Leaside Bible Chapel's "Christinity Explored" course with them.

The sayings of Lukas V16 - story time

Last night we were sitting at the dinner table reading a missionary letter from our friends the Kline's in Greece. Their letter was about a boat trip on HM's mission boat, the Morning Star. Lukas then took the letter and began telling imaginary stories about how this boat was stuck in a storm....

Lukas: There was a big storm, and the boat was going to crash!!!
Daddy: Oh no, then what happened!!
Lukas: Then the boat turned into a helicopter and flew away. They flew and flew and flew until they couldn't see the storm any more. Then they lived in a place far away from any more storms forever
Daddy: Oh, like Chicken Run?
Lukas: Yes, like chicken run
Daddy: Great story Lukas. So did they live happily ever after?
Lukas: No they got old and died.

Wednesday prayer requests - The sign is up!!

"Prayer requests" are published every Wednesday and provide us with an opptunity to get up-to-the-minute requests and cry out to God on behalf of others
__________________

This weeks request is extra special!! If you've been following along, I've been documenting our attempts to attach a huge gospel sign to the corner of the building here. Yesterday the sign finally went up!! Praise God! It looks amazing! Please pray for the thousands who will see this sign every day and that some would be drawn to the beauty of Christ!! Here are a few pictures:

George, the chief architect.

Up up and away!

Onlookers

From the street

One year anniversary!!

Well folks, after staying up till 2AM watching the election, I didn't really get a jump on posting anything today....but today is a special day!! It's the one year anniversary of the discussion forum! That's right, one year ago today, Jan 24, 2005 at 10:35 am the forum began to live. Since then it's been amazing to see the way God has increased our little site. Here are the stats:

Board started: Mon Jan 24, 2005 10:35 am
Number of posts: 11913
Posts per day: 32.55
Number of topics: 1447
Topics per day: 3.95
Number of users: 262
Users per day: 0.72

So on this anniversary I was thinking of doing some special contest, however at press time I was too busy chasing around my 3 kids. Instead I'd just like to thank everyone who has participated in making the forum great! Thanks everyone.

Monday's Hot Topics - Election day

Since today is voting day across this glorious nation, it's quite appropriate that today's hot topic is -> Who are you voting for???

Are you like Prescott, and 15 others, who are voting for the Conservatives, or like Imran who's leaning towards the Green Party? Whatever the case, don't waste that ballot, read over our athensBLOG election coverage, which is todays hot topic, on the forum, and make your informed choice! Cast your vote in our online poll and at the end of election night we'll see how close we came to the real outcome!

**Also, post your voting day stories - here

Need a title - V2 - Sylas

Remember Lukas and the toilet? Well here's Sylas and the finger! Let's see who's got the best title for this pic!

Harperescott

My good buddy and political pundit, Andrew Prescott got to meet Stephen Harper in Guelph today. Check out this shot of the skinny sensation shaking hands with the soon-to-be Prime Minister. Way to go Prescott

Watching a dream - Day 3 - Drilling

Well this morning it didn't look like things were going to work out! I woke up at 5AM when the power went out the first time and by 8:30 when I arrived at the chapel for the Men's meeting it was snowing and as you can see from the picture on the left, the power was still out all over Scarborough.




After the mens meeting George, Onez, Tony and myself were very pleased that the sun came out and we are now (it's 1PM) enjoying a beautiful sunny day!! Keep praying as this sign goes up over the next few days, that many would be warmed by thoughts of Jesus after looking at it. I'll keep you updated on how things are going from Gospel sign headquarters!

Watching a dream - Day 3 - The Sign

I'm not sure what all of us think of when I mention Gospel Signs, but the one we picked up is amazing! Soon I'll have a picture of the full sign, but for now here's a little glimpse. You'll notice a sunset behind the words "Jesus Christ". Plain and simple. For those who might want something similar for their chapel/church, contact Gospel text mission at 1-866-789-0230. I'll be posting pics tomorrow of the mounting! Thanks for your prayers!

Watching a dream - Day 2 - Location

For this segment of the journey, I wanted to highlight Bridlegrove's strategic location, and why this new gospel sign will be an amazing testimony for the Lord! I'll talk about the sign in more detail a little later, but for now I want to post some pictures so we can pray for all the people who will see it!




Since erecting a building in 1976, Bridlegrove Bible Chapel has been located on the corner of Finch & Pharmacy Avenue's in Toronto. This is a major intersection in a very multicultural area. On Sunday, the visiting preacher stated that "this is the most strategically placed assembly in all of Canada". In these pictures, you'll notice the chapel's location and the big empty space where the sign will be located. Please pray with us that this sign will be successfully attached to the wall and that many people would feel the warmth and turn to Christ!

Smiley girl

Well we've finally reached that adorable stage where Olivia is beginning to smile and coo. Here are a few pictures and a video of the cuteness

Watch as a dream becomes reality

I've been struck lately with a real streak of thankfulness. Thankful for my parents, my wife, thankful for my children, for democracy to vote. More specifically I've been very thankful for the ability God has given us to minister in this area of Toronto, thankful for the connections we have made with so many people, thankful for the progress that has been made, thankful for the supporters who read this site, donate, and pray for us. Over the past 3 years we have poured ourselves into this area, and something very special is about to happen on Saturday that I am very thankful for!

Over the next few days I will be posting a progression of pictures that will chronicle the mounting of the lovely sign you see on the left. Now this might not be a big deal to some of you, but for me, this is a DREAM COME TRUE!!!

You see Bridlegrove Bible Chapel is situated on the corner of a major intersection (Finch & Pharmacy) here in Toronto. Late last year I contacted the Gospel Text Mission about the possibility of placing a large gospel sign on our building. Right on the corner. So hundreds of people every day could see the gospel clearly portrayed! I'm pumped! Currently the sign is sitting in the main sanctuary at the chapel. I'll post more soon about the voyage from dream to reality.

CRUX rallies

CRUX youth rallies were born out of a desire to see Christ Raised Up (C.R.U.X) in the city. These rallies are organized by various youth leaders and groups across Ontario. The ethos of ministry is making Jesus the center, while explaining him in the language of the street. Friends are encouraged to bring friends to hear and experience (CRUX = Come Read Understand Xperience) what Jesus can do for them. The rallies are outreach oriented and city-based to encourage youth to move towards the kind of places where Jesus would have lived. The lonely places. The places with bad reputations, like Nazareth. CRUX ralies are held every few months so email me if you'd like to get on the mailing list.

Here are some pictures and videos of previous rallies:

CRUX 1 - September 2005 - held at Bridlegrove Bible Chapel - pics, videos

CRUX 2 - Decemer 2005 - Leaside Bible Chapel - pics, videos

CRUX 3 - February 2006 - Markham Bible Chapel - pics

CRUX 4 - June 2006 - Bridlegrove Bible Chapel - Gyasi Ferdinand, Videos, YouTube

CRUX VIDEOS on YouTube

Wednesday Prayer Requests - Suicide

"Prayer requests" are published every Wednesday and provide us with an opptunity to get up-to-the-minute requests and cry out to God on behalf of others
__________________

Thought I'd post an entry from the forum for us to pray for today:

Is there somthing wrong with me?!I'm a born again Christian....but i'm so confused....and stressed...and depressed...and lately i've been having thoughts of suicide! tell me im crazy please! i've broken down so many times in the last week....i feel so helpless....what can i do?!?!?

Perhaps we could take a minute to pray for this person, as well as others listed in the prayer section

Monday's hot topics - Women's Roles

Well this Monday highlights the plight of women in brethren assemblies. Some believe that "women, who find it difficult to put on a headcovering (in church), love themselves more than they love Christ", others say that there is no place for women in brethren assemblies and have left over this issue. That's why "The Role of women in brethren churches" is this week's hot topic! What would a brethren site be without a debate about headcoverings! :) Click here to uncover the glory!

Polygamy, eh?

I saw a story on the news last night, and CTV reports that Canada is considering legalizing polygamy. And what you might ask was the motivation for such a study? Surprise, surprise, the same-sex marriage issue. I seem to remember a number of Christians predicting this would be the case. Don't worry though, only 13% of people in this CTV online survey want it approved. 13%. Yuck.

Parenting 101 V2 - Eyeballs

As promised earlier, "when I am confronted with a difficult parenting situation, I'll put the issue out there to plumb the depths of the vast parenting knowledge of my beloved readers"....Here is our second edition of Parenting 101.

Recently Lukas has been noticing the difference between wood and metal. He will approach a door, or table and knock on it with his toy hammer. "Daddy is this wood, or metal" he will ask me, and I will usually explain the difference in sound between the two to help him distinguish which material he's found. Tonight was different. He started knocking on plastic, ceramic tile and finally his bed mattress, all the while asking "Daddy is this wood or metal". It gave me an opportunity to explain what many things are made of.

After tucking him in and leaving the room, I heard a familiar plea from his room..."Daaadddyyyyy". I opened the door to find him with his fingers pushing at his eyes, when he asked "Daddy, are eyeballs wood or metal?"
What response would you have given?

Eid Mubarak!

Just wanted to say Eid Mubarak to all my muslim friends celebrating Eid today!

Election laughs

Found parody video of the recent Liberal attack ads. Absolutely hilarious. Hopefully we'll see a few more of these as people get more and more tired of the Liberals. The owner of this site has set up a contest and is asking for entries for his next ad parody, so click here and see if you can win!

Wednesday prayer requests - Good news from Good news!

Recently a supporter asked me to send them prayer requests so they could pray for our family and ministry daily. Wow! We seriously appreciate prayer. And daily prayer - oh baby! I thought the best way to get prayer requests out "real time" would be to post a new feature every Wednesday called.....Prayer Requests.

Ya, I know it doesn't have a flashy title, but it does get the idea across, and Wednesday is the universal day of mid-week prayer meeting (sorry for you tuesday nighters). We need to pray. Pray for each other, our world, those less fortunate. I will be posting my prayer requests for the prayer warriors that support us, and if you have a prayer request, post it in the comments, or in the forum prayer section! The prayer will get flowing, people will get connected, God will enjoy the dialogue and He will get to show more of his goodness to us little people. :) Sweet system I tell ya.

Now to break with tradition right out of the gate, the first edition of "prayer requests" isn't even about me. Talk about a hypocrite. But hey it's 1AM and I just got off the phone with a friend from the Good News On the Move team (GNOM for short) down in Louisiana! I'm pumped! I posted a bit of how our discussion went here

So pray for GNOM, Give to GNOM, keep updated on GNOM on the discussion forum - here. Good things are happening and these guys need our prayers! Click here for more prayer requests

Monday's Hot Topics - Divorce

Well it's Monday again. Back to work. Back to school. Need somethin to get your heart pumpin? Here are this weeks Hot Topics!

Now, seeing as I didn't even get to bed till 1:30AM and was up about 3 times before Sylas finally woke me up for good at 7, I'm keeping this edition of "hot topics" to just one. But don't worry, it's a good one! As promised I'm adding this to the list of "hot topics" on the left margin.

This past week, there was an interesting exchange on the the discussion forum involving an old topic about divorce and remarriage. The previous debate was about wether divorce is allowed for Christians. I had taken a fairly hard stance, stating that divorce is not an option and making reference to the biblical story of Hosea and the picture of Christ and his church (Bride) to back up my point, when Michelle entered the discussion and rocked our socks off! What makes this an even more interesting topic is that Hayley and I actually attended Michelle's wedding! Here's what she said:

I am divorced...I figured either I got out of this marriage or he would kill me or I would commit suicide. I feel no remorse for my decision to leave him. Any God who would want me to stay in that situation is no God for me. For those who believe divorce is not an option what would you tell someone like me who came to you for counsel?

Now that is a hot topic! What would you say to Michelle? What do you think about divorce?

Random Ministry pics V2 - Seed Sowers Map

I took this random ministry pic at Emmanuel Bible Camp in Prince Edward Island when we were there in August of last year. That feels wierd saying last year, but I guess it was the summer of 2005. A group of about 150 christians, including Hayley, myself, Veronica, Lukas, Sylas & Olivia gathered at camp, which served as "home base" for our mission...an amazing feat for Jesus...distributing 50,000 Seed Sowers packages, effectively getting HIS words out to cover the entire province...like the dew! Our assistant in the picture, Matt Cote, is showing us the map that was on the wall at the camp. The map shows Prince Edward Island and each town and village as it was completed. Props to Bob Magregor for the hours he spent working on the logistics and photocopying maps of PEI for each team. Matt is pointing to where the camp is located. It was quite the journey of faith for us, trudging mile after mile from mailbox to mailbox. Special thanks also to the assemblies in PEI who helped in so many ways, as well as Don Cox from Quebec for organizing the outreach. Please continue to pray for the people who received these texts, and for the churches in PEI to continue to reach out! May Jesus get the glory! If anyone from PEI has updates on the follow up, please post them here.

The sayings of Lukas v15 - Bedtime stories

Tonight Hayley was tucking Lukas into bed when he asked:

Lukas: Mommy can you read me another bed time story?
Mommy: No Lukas we don't have time for any more stories tonight.
Lukas: Mommy, I don't mean read it, I just mean tell me what it says!

Nice day for a Wilks Wedding

Well I took a grand total of 5 pics and 4 videos at Matt & Starrs wedding. Some of you have asked for some pics, but Olivia prevented me from doing my usual paparazzi routine. Sadly, the pic on the left is by far the best of the night but I'm sure their wedding photographer will have better shots. The other pics and videos are located here.

Uprising of Love

Looby reports about the Rise Up & Love Conference in New Jersey:

wow.. rise up and love 2006.. was amazing.. i loved everything about it.

Did anyone else go? Care to give those of us who missed it the down-low on the discussion forum?

2005 - Hot year - Hot topics

Well Happy New Year! 2006 is here and you may have noticed I've been fiddling around with a few things on the left margin here on the athensBLOG. I've started an "athensBLOG features" list and consolidated alot of links so folks don't get lost in the long list. Most of the stuff from the athens2004 olympic missions trip has been archived and I'm still experimenting with other stuff, because basically I have no html or web skills and I'm not very good with a bow-staff. If it wasn't for Paul Roides and Matt Wilks, the ShawnCuthill.com experience would look a lot like Len Carolan's site.

One of the new features I've added is a "Hot forum topics" feature, which links to some of the discussions currently taking place on the forum. I'll update these every Monday, unless of course I'm overcome by a mountain of diapers.

Last weeks hot topics were: - Who are you voting for? ; - Evolution; - Brethren beliefs; - Are people born gay?; - Should I attend Catholic celebrations?; - Shower daily?

This week's hot topics: - Sexual abuse stats, - Early Church System?, - Meet Imran! , - "Brand name" game , - Who does Esther look like?

There must be something in there you'd like to argue about, so get to it! 2006 may be the year of Mozart, Museums, and Malicious Malware, but it's also the year of the athensBLOG!! In 2005 we went from a little blog about a little trip, to a discussion forum that reaches around the world, to now a wiki that attempts to do what no other website has done, document the history of every brethren assembly on earth. Bill Yeo may be right that we're biting off more than we can chew...but man it's fun chewing with all of you :) Thanks to all the 40,000 or so readers who browsed, clicked, commented and posted in 2005! All the best in 2006!

January loggin in

01Jan06- Sun - FBH - (3)Clayons mom, dad, christoff. 6:30 movie at chapel
02Jan06- Mon - paperwork
03Jan06- Tues- Matt & Leah to airport, date with HP
04Jan06- Wed - office, lunch with roidzee, fix car
05Jan06- thurs-
06Jan06- fri -
07Jan06- sat -
08Jan06- sun - BofB, FBH
09Jan05- mon -
10Jan05- tues- zoo
11Jan05- wed - hayley's parents leave
12Jan06- thurs-office, 50 tracts@MAC
13Jan06- fri - 20@youth
14Jan06- sat - scott grieve farewell
15Jan06- sun - FBH with 9(Clayon, mom, dad, christoff, deshawn, malcolm, trayvon, tatiana, cookie), 5 over for lunch, 4 to CE @ Leadide
16Jan06- mon - paperwork, toronto mission planning for florida group
17Jan06- tues-
18Jan06- wed - office
19Jan06- thurs-read to daycare kids, 50 tracts @ MAC
20Jan06- fri - 50 tracts @ LAM, 25@youth
21Jan06- sat - Mens Fellowship, help george with sign
22Jan06- sun - BofB, FBH with 2 (Jamoy, cookie), CE@Leaside with 3 (Jamoy, Kevin, Cookie)
23Jan06- mon - paperwork catch up, election
24Jan06- tues-zoo, date w HP, chester le prayer
25Jan06- wed - prayer
26Jan06- thurs-read to daycare, meet norm K
27Jan06- fri - 28@youth
28Jan06- Sat - solemn assembly
29Jan06- Sun - UAC for Bruce Wilkinson, Fish's for lunch, CE Leaside with 5
30Jan06- Mon -
31Jan06- Tues- 3 over for lunch

Happy New Wierd!

So.....I spent New Years eve with a bunch of skinned humans down at the Science Center! They called it Body Worlds, and it was quite fascinating. Upon entering the exhibit there was a wall sized banner with Psalm 8 written on it:

4What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

Although there was controversy surrounding the exhibit I found it was pretty amazing stuff. Matt & Hayley enjoyed it the most, with their medical backgrounds, but God's creation is definitely fascinating! Again, I can't understand how someone can look at the amazing way the human body works and not believe it was designed by an intelligent designer. My favorite part of the exhibit was the fat man vs. skinny man, the embryos, pregnant lady and the javelin thrower. My parenting skills were stretched when Lukas asked "why does that man have three legs" pointing to a plastinated corpse who's leg was disected three ways.
Interstingly somebody told us that they thought it was unethical to be displaying dead humans that way. I hadn't thought of it, but is there any ethical or religious reason why displaying dead bodies is wrong?

Congratulations to Matt & Starr

The gentle giant, Matt Wilks, and Starr Lane got married yesterday at Leaside Bible Chapel! It was a wonderful night because of the wedding, but also because Hayley and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on the same day! Now we will be forever united with this wonderful couple in the date of our marriage as well as our love for the colour orange! Congratulations to the newlyweds!

Parenting 101 - Grinches

Over this past year I've developed a few regular features here on the athensBLOG. The saysings of Lukas (& Sylas), God provides and Random ministry pics are some of the favorites, along with numerous contests throughout the year. Parenting 101 will be a new feature here on the athensBLOG. When I am confronted with a difficult parenting situation, I'll put the issue out there to plumb the depths of the vast parenting knowledge of my beloved readers! Come on you've all wanted to say something to that mother in the grocery store with the screaming child...now's your chance to be a back-! Tell the world how you would instruct the youngsters! Here's the first segment:

Parenting 101: Grinches:

Hayley's family is here and tonight we were watching How the Grinch stole Christmas, when Lukas asked me:

"Daddy, why did God make grinches"?

What response would you have given?

What would you do for Love?

Mark McGowan...is pulling 18 boxes of chocolates on strings attached to his arms and legs and a sign saying: "Could you love me?" "You get by being on your own the rest of the year but at this time it is devastation, utter misery," he said. "I am spending Christmas alone this year but I am looking for love because I have had enough - I don't want to be alone any more."

This is one of the saddest things I've ever seen. Obviously it's a publicity stunt, however it does show how important human relationships are. Reminds me of Cindy Lou Who in the Grinch when she said "No one should be alone on Christmas". Find a lonely person today and say hi, give them a hug or do something to show them that they are loved. Tell them that God loves them and spend some time with them. If anyone can find a video of this online please leave a comment because I want to use it for a sermon.

Happy Birthday Hayley!!

That's right folks, my wife Hayley is celebrating her 24th birthday today - Dec 25! Special props to Isabelle, Cookie and Olivia Campbell for remembering! Hayley's family are the champs when it comes to strange birthdays. Her birthday is Christmas, her dad's birthday is Valentines day, and she has 2 boys born on the same day. So have a Merry Christmas and leave a comment for Hayley because usually everybody forgets :)

How long is one month?

One month ago today Olivia was born! Actually Hayley and I couldn't decide whether Olivia was one month old on Tuesday, which was 4 Tuesdays since her birth, or today, one calendar month from her birth date. Whatever the case, here are some new pictures, and videos of the one-month-old :) Watch and see Lukas' first attempt at carrying his sister! Merry Christmas everyone!

Cuthills 2005 year-end report online

Click here for our 2005 Christmas newsletter/year-end report (MS Word). Special thanks to everyone for your prayers, gifts and support over the past year. Merry Christmas!

Testing the "BrethrenPedia"

Just getting started on a little project called BrethrenPedia. I'll be writing more about this project in the new year, but basically we're attempting to document the entire history of the brethren movement, one assembly at a time. Using the same wiki software as Wikipedia.org we'll try to dig up and document the history of every assembly all the way back to the original boys in Dublin! I'll explain more about it soon, but for now just go to http://brethrenpedia.quist.ca and try your hand at editing! Once you get hooked it's lots of fun!

Barbara Walters goes to Heaven

No she didn't die, she's hosting a show tonight on CTV titled "Heaven: Where is it". She interviewd Catholic, Jewish, Baptist, Buddhist, Evangelical, Athiest, Muslim, Terrorist and Scientific leaders. Should be interesting.

Prime Minister's puzzling proposition

Can somebody explain this to me? I was reading on the CTV website that Paul Martin said:

"In a nation of minorities, the Charter is the guarantor that minorities will be protected, that they will not be subjected to the whim of the minority," Martin said Sunday

Dave & Amy & Camille & friends

Finally, we have pictures of Camille Frances Sutherland! Rejoice with the Quist nation!

Boys O Boys!

Well, as I was finishing up my last post about all the newborn girls, Josh & Colleen MacFadyen were at the hospital awaiting the arrival of their little BOY Cameron Thomas MacFadyen!! Cameron (happens to be my middle name) was born at 2:20AM this morning (Saturday) via C-section! Here is a little picture Josh sent of the little fella! Congratulations to the MacFadyens!!

Modern day good samaritan

Well it's currently 4:54AM and I doubt that I'll get too much more sleep tonight. The insomnia all of us new parents are feeling cannot be matched by the sadness this mother must have felt when her innocent son was shot and killed by soldiers. Her response is an example to all of us. Here is the article I found a little while ago, detailing how this mother reacted:

Israelis receive organs of slain Palestinian boy

In a gesture they hope will foster peace, the parents of a young Palestinian boy killed by Israeli soldiers have donated his organs for transplants in Israel.

Ahmed Khatib, 12, was shot by Israeli soldiers last Thursday, during a military raid in Jenin.

Like so many children across the West Bank, Khatib was playing with a toy gun when Israeli soldiers were hunting militants. Mistaking his toy for a real gun, they shot him in the head and chest.

He died of his wounds in an Israeli hospital on Saturday.

Ahmed's mother says the decision to donate her son's organs was made Sunday as a tribute to his brother, who died at 24 while waiting for a liver transplant. But the desire to help others -- regardless of nationality or political beliefs -- is also directed at sustaining Ahmed's spirit.

"We made the decision to show we want peace -- even if they're Jewish," she said in Arabic. "This way I feel he is still alive."

A chronic shortage of donor organs in Israel is typically explained by Jewish religious taboos against the practice.

Girls, Girls, Girls

Well since we (or should I say Hayley and Theresa) had our girls on November 22nd, Keith & Beth Sparrow also had a girl, Rebecca Faith and Dave & Amy had a girl, Camille Frances. The only exception to the rule is Marko & Laura who had a boy, Sean. Congratulations to all the happy sleepless parents! So far we still haven't heard from Josh & Colleen MacFadyen. Stay tuned :)

I swear to God

Found this from the french political debate last night, CBC leaders debate

Interesting. The moderator would not let the leaders off without actually answering the question: Would they swear on a Bible to keep their promises? Layton, Martin and Harper all replied with the same word: "Absolument. (Absolutely)." Then they went on to pound home their messages again, not willing to lose a chance to say more. But for a second time, Duceppe did not answer with a "yes" or "no."

Welcome to Nanavut

Taking Lukas to daycare is always an adventure! As you've seen, there are always new things to discover...like toilets and kitchen sinks on neighbours lawns! You can never guess what is just around the corner. Walking those 3 blocks from our house to the chapel has so many twists and turns, and today was no exception. Lukas found a stick and started drawing in the snow. Any idea what Lukas is drawing? He said to me "Look daddy it's......"
Any guesses?

Gosh

Considering that my brain is complete mush from so many sleepless baby nights, I had a great laugh at this link. Just click on the flippin link.....dang

Need a title

For this picture. Any ideas?

The sick olympics

With a newborn, sick kids and a sick wife this week (and sick myself), I got to wondering if there's some kind of world record for the most throw ups, phlegm, poops and boogers in one home in a week. If nobody's keeping track here on earth, then I'm sure we'll find out who won when we get to heaven. The condition of my family also made me wonder when it would end! So what are we to do when everyone is down for the count? Grab the banjo, call the in-laws and have a concert! Yeehaw! Here are some videos of Lukas singing some favorites, and here are more pictures of Olivia! :)

Indoor gas stations

Pulling up to get gas tonight in the freeeeezing -17 windchill cold, when the thought hit me....why hasn't anyone invented INDOOR gas stations??? I'm standing there freezing to death looking over at the "Mr. Lube" attached to the Esso wondering how come they can't have a drive-in gas station to keep everybody warm, check your fluids, sell you Tim Hortons, etc. I mean so many things would be easier. No line-up issues. Nobody backing up in front of somebody else, no honking, no jockeying for position. Just a straight line in and straight line out. Has anyone thought of this before? Would you go to an indoor gas station? I know I would. I'd probably choose to drive an extra block or two just to get there. Maybe I should give Esso a call...hmmm...don't go stealing my idea on me now, OK! Has anyone else thought of this before or am I crazy?

More Babies!

Congratulations to Marko & Laura Peric on the birth of their son! He was 9lbs 5oz and they're naming him Sean or Shawn or Shaun, but hopefully not Shone. Hopefully they'll have some pictures up soon on their site - here. Congratulations!

So Roman, how did you like CRUX2 @ Leaside?

Roman is demonstrating the featured game from the second CRUX event, the spit-the-banana-through- the-panty-hose-over-your-head game. Quite fun to watch...not sure how much fun it was to play but I'll put some videos and pics up soon so you can see for yourself! Thankfully there were no permanent injuries, except perhaps some bruised egos.



It was a great night, with over 150 teens (and yes we allowed parents) from at least 7 assemblies represented! Sadly none of those assemblies brought anyone with freestyle rapping skills so we were subjected to a rendition of Wierd-Al Yankovics "amish paradise" by Wilks & Brewster during the rap competition. The Leaside praise band was rockin, Matt Wilks spoke powerfully about how Jesus had changed him from a life of drugs, to a life of serving God. As you can see from this picture, the objective was accomplished - Christ Raised Up! Markham Bible Chapel will host the next rally in February, so stay tuned for details!

December logging in

16Dec05- Fri - youth
15Dec05- Thur
14Dec05- Wed
13Dec05- Tues
12Dec05- Mon
11Dec05- Sun - BofB, FBH with 2 (Cookie, Jamoy)
10Dec05- Sat - Christmas banquet (4) Kevin, Jamoy, Cookie, Katherine
09Dec05- Fri - @Chapel - sermon prep, youth prep, admin. Youth, set up for banquet
08Dec05- Thurs - sick
07Dec05- Wed - sick
06Dec05- Tues - off
05Dec05- Mon - @chapel - Lukas home sick
04Dec05- Sun - Sylas sick
03Dec05- Sat - CRUX leaside
02Dec05- Fri - 25@youth
01Dec05- Thur- @chapel

CRUX 2 - Leaside - Saturday - 6:45PM - Be there!

This Saturday is the second CRUX Toronto youth rally, this time held at Leaside Bible Chapel in good old Leaside. Videos and pictures of the last rally are available for those who missed it. This time around the speaker will be Matt Wilks, originally from New Jersey. Hopefully he'll tell us what Zopetopia means, or something about the meaning of life. Also Phil Tremblay and CruxProductions will be in full effect, the Leaside Band will be leading us in worship and of course you'll be treated to the visual hilarity of Nigel & I asking teens Bible questions on the street. This time we went to Leaside High School to see how much the average Canadian teen knows about Christmas. Does anyone know who the Good King Wenceslas was!!??? These teens didn't have a clue. See you there!

Guess who I'm voting for?

Well folks, election time is here! Pretty soon the lawn signs will begin to fly with the snow. The one on the left is by my friend Political Pundit Prescott. If I was campaign manager for Stephen Harper, I would hire Frederik from ING Direct to do commercials for them. "Just dial 1-800-vote-conservative and save your money."


Let us know who you will be voting for on the discussion forum - here, so far it's 5 votes Conservative, 2 votes Green Party!

I look at my daughter...

Driving home last night around 11PM, I heard a song on the radio that I hadn't heard for quite some time. It was called "Heaven" by a band called "Live" and the chorus goes like this:

I don't need no one
to tell me about heaven
I look at my daughter,
and I believe.
I don't need no proof
when it comes to God and truth
I can see the sunset and I perceive

Lots to think about in that song. I don't know how anyone could not believe in God, a loving heavenly father, after having a child.

Olivia at home

Today was our first full day at home together as a family of 5. Hopefully things will be back to normal soon...as normal as things can get around here. Come and visit soon :)

And the winner is....

For the past 6 months now, we've been taking entries on the forum for something we like to call 'The Cuthill baby pool'. This little contest is the brainchild of Wayne Mayo, who began in a little room in Charlottetown jotting down a few guesses about when our 2nd son Sylas would be born. He wrote down what date everyone thought, gener, weight and time of arrival. The original contest was basically for friends and family, and my sister Melissa ended up winning the first one, and receiving the prize...Sylas' umbilical cord! She still has it to this day, and cherishes the sweetness of that victory.

This time around we opened up the baby pool to our regular visitors here on the athensBlog. More participants, more entries, but the same coveted umbilical cord! Well not the same one, but you get the idea. On the left margin we posted a little graphic making it possible for folks to enter. And enter they did! Over 50 contestants competed valiantly, but at the end of the day there can only be one winner!

So ladies & gentleman it's fitting at this time to announce the winner of the 3rd Cuthill baby pool:

LEAH MACLEOD!! (who happens to by my wonderful sister-in-law, and Wayne Mayo's daughter)

Let me say that it was a very close contest this time around, but Leah beat out all contenders by skillfully predicting the details of Olivia's arrival a full 4 months in advance! Leah predicted a girl, on Nov. 17th, weighing in at 9lbs 6oz and she also had the time right by specifying between 5:30AM-6:30AM. Congratulations Leah! Expect shipment of the umbilical chord prize within 7-10 business days depending on when it falls off :)

She narrowly beat out our second place finisher Joanna Garner from St. Catherines! . Joanna also predicted a girl, at 5:33AM weighing 9lbs 2oz, and had November 14th.

In third place is Dina Robert who picked a girl, Nov. 21, 9lbs 2oz and 8:34AM.

Honourable mention goes to Paul Roides, Bobbie Easton and Doug Jones - however their entries came past the cut-off date within one week of the date of birth. Still their prophetic skills are to commended! Perhaps the gift of prophesy has not ceased after all :)

Finally I'd like to thank everyone for participating! Although everyone can't be a winner, we can all share in the joy of watching a new life grow.

Day 4 - finally home!

Today we got to go home from the hospital! Hooray! Olivia will get to sleep in her own little bed tonight. More pictures and videos from today as well as a few new ones from yesterday and some excellent shots taken by Cassie & Mark - here. Now that we're home, hopefully life will return to normal and the winner of the baby pool will be announced soon. Stay tuned.

Day 3 - Her future's so bright she's gotta wear shades!

Who is John Dis and Billy Reuben anyways? Seems like our little girl is in the hospital for another night. Hayley however has been discharged, so i snapped a few of these shots when I was in getting her lunch. A few Videos and pictures

Olivia looking girly

2nd day of life

Good morning everybody! More pictures from day 2, and videos

**In other baby news, we're proud to report the birth of Lydia, new daughter to the Sabines!! She was born the same day as Olivia! Nov. 22, 10:04pm, 7 pounds 15 ounces.

** Congratulations Sabines!! **

(coincidentally Hayley and L were also born on the same day, and now have girls that were born on the same day!)

Mommy is doing fine!

Hayley is doing quite well. Up and walking. Baby is feeding well. Thanks for your prayers for a great delivery! Hopefully we will have the official winner of the Cuthill baby pool a little later today.

The sayings of Lukas v14 - First Impressions

Folks, for this edition of the "Sayings of Lukas" we're going to let the video do the talking. Here is Lukas' first impression of his little baby sister.

Say hello to Olivia

Time: 5:47AM - Weight: 9.5lbs - Date: Nov. 22 - Gender: Girl - Name: Olivia

-> First videos - click here (requires Quicktime player - here)
-> Pictures - Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Marks pics from hospital, 2 Weeks old
-> Baby Pool results

And they're off!

Just off to the hospital! Whoever picked Nov. 22 in the baby pool could be a lucky, lucky person! More soon.

Contractions, Contractions, Contractions...

but no baby. Hayley has been having contractions steady for about a week. Thursday night they were quite intense, but went away. Tonight they are even more intense but we'll see if they stay that way or if we'll just go to bed. I can tell they are more intense this time because everything I do is a million times more annoying to her...like writing this blog entry :)

The sayings of Lukas v13 - Spelling

While we're all waiting for Baby3 I thought i would insert some comic relief, brought to you by Lukas.

Lukas: Mommy, that tree over there looks like the guy that didn't get on the spaceship
Mommy: Who's that?
Lukas: You know the guy that missed the spaceship
Mommy: Oh you mean E.T.
Lukas: Ya him...(long pause)..mommy how do you spell E.T.?

Today is Hayley's due date

It doesn't look promising that another child will be making their appearance today. But stay tuned.

Hayley woke me up at about 4AM this morning with some pretty intense contractions. Let's see what happens. The baby pool is technically closed, but we will take your last minute weight, gender and time of day entries - here

Mike James, my new favorite Raptor!

So Jamoy, how did you like the raptors game?

Here are some videos and pics of the raptors game tonight. The night was packed with wholesome gooness. We got to hear Mike James share about his faith in Jesus, we had lots of fun, excitement and pretty much everybody won prizes, and despite the score on the board a good time was had by all. God was glorified and many teens heard the Word.

As Mike Janes said it doesn't matter what the score was, we have the Victory if we know Christ. Here are a few videos, and pics from the evening.