Believe It or Not

Recently, I was inspired by a post my brother wrote on Facebook, and convicted to do the same, but instead post it on my blog. It has to do with something very important to me, but I don’t talk a lot about it:

My faith.

I consider myself a devout Christian. This is no surprise to many of you who know me. However, I rarely bring it up in talking with strangers or even friends who I didn’t go to Briercrest or church with. I’ve always found it hard to start those conversations, yet have no problem getting into spiritual and theological discussions once the initial topic has been brought up. So I guess I’m should probably start it for once.

Being a Christian means that I believe Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross for my sins, along with the rest of humanity, and rose three days later, confirming his victory over death and breaking its power over us. I believe that we have been saved from a very real place called Hell, where souls are sent to be punished eternally for sin, but I also believe in the place of Heaven where all those who have followed Jesus are taken for eternal rewards. I believe that all of this can be found in the Bible, and it is the recordings of people who were told by God and impacted by Christ. I believe everything written in this book is true, including the stuff that many people struggle to understand, such as Old Testament passages on genocide, homosexuality, polygamy and slavery. I believe that I have been placed on this Earth for a reason, which is to bring glory to God to all his people, and that I owe him my life and try to live for Him every day.

This is a really compressed version of my statement of faith. It is by no means comprehensive. To graduate from Briercrest, I wrote a 4 page document on what I believe. So I’ve had time to think about my choices and whether or not I’ve made the right decision, and I truly believe I have.

But why?

Why would I believe this stuff? Why would I commit my life to something that occurred over two millenniums ago, and that no one can seem to prove today? Why would I believe in something that some people so strongly fight against and claim that it’s completely insane?

Why not?

Why wouldn’t I want to follow the Creator of the universe? If everything in the Bible is true, and I have faith that it is, then we have been given the greatest opportunity in history in following Him. He promises us rewards beyond our wildest imaginations, love that cannot be comprehended by humans, and destruction to our enemies. And all we have to do is believe in Him. That seems like a pretty low-risk/high-reward deal.

There are a lot of other things I could get into, but I feel that this isn’t the place for them. If you’d like to continue the discussion, feel free to contact me via facebook or email or my face or whatever. If there’s any glaring omissions or confusions, then also please let me know so I can clarify myself. Being a Christian is not my religion; it is who I am. In everything I do, God will always come first, and I hope that He also will for you, too.

 There’s a verse in Joshua (24:15) that I would like to end on:

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

               

May God bless every one of you richly,

Dayton Reimer

A Letter to Snow

Dear Snow,

First off, let me say welcome back! I hope you enjoyed your summer vacation up North, but I’m glad you decided to come back again this year, since we didn’t leave on the warmest of terms. It feels like ages since you’ve been around, and I’m glad we finally get to hang out again. I have so many things I want to do. Outdoor skating, skiing, snowmen…do you wanna build a snowman?

But before I get carried away, I want to get some things straight, which is why I’m writing this letter in the first place. See, last year, when you came to visit, there were some…issues. You didn’t leave on a great note last year. You managed to anger most people I know. And I’d like to prevent that this year.

The first thing is you can’t overstay your welcome. I know, this sounds a bit cold, but you gotta get used to that. You came around November, and suddenly it’s April and you’re still crashing in the back yard. That’s not going to happen this year. I know times are tough, that it’s getting warmer everywhere and you’re finding fewer places you’re comfortable hanging out, but that’s not my problem. That’s just the inconvenient truth. There have been several times where you’ve ruined my plans with Spring because you’re still here and I have no place for him to stay.

Speaking of Spring, stop being such a jerk to him. Before you get all icy with me, just listen. Last year, I go and visit some friends down in Moose Jaw at the end of April. Spring had tagged along, though he was still warming up to the area. Then, when I go to drive home the next day, you push him out of the car and just exploded. Seriously, you were everywhere. At one point, you sat on the hood of my car and I could barely see the road. You kept going on about how you were so much cooler than Spring. And that’s not the only time. He’s a nervous wreck now. It’s like you leave just long enough for him to think it’s safe to come and visit again, then you jump out from behind the bushes and just pummel him. Last I heard, he’s in counselling. You’ve got to get along better with him.

And this year, let’s cool it with the mood swings. When you arrive, you’re always light and happy. You get a bit brisk, but that’s just who you are. I’ve gotten used to it. Then, all of a sudden, you get really bitter and heavy. Everything is dark and gloomy, and you won’t let me go anywhere to hang with other people. You get these really bad temper tantrums, sometimes just turning off the power because, “nobody like me anymore!” Did you take my advice and go to a doctor? It really seems like it might be schizophrenia. It got really bad last year when they were calling you “The Polar Vortex.” That was the worst I’ve seen of you in a long time. After the nasty temper tantrums, you get really cold and won’t talk to anyone. People freeze just being in the same area as you. I know people can suck, but you got to warm up to them a bit. Most people are really quite nice.

Anyways, those are the big things I wanted to address. Like I said, I’m really looking forward to chilling with you this year and I hope our time will be well spent. If you don’t tell the others, you’re really my favourite guest. Summer thinks she’s way too hot, and Autumn is depressed all the time. I think she might be sick, too. That much hair should not fall out of a person. Spring is friendly, but he gets a bit too cheery sometimes. And he always brings Rain with him, and he’s just a major downer. I can’t deal with all the waterworks. But I’m ranting.

Welcome back, Snow. 

House Warming

This past week, I moved into a house with 3 other guys I knew from Briercrest. Before that, I was living in a bachelor suite over near Broadway St, which I had been in for about a year while attending the U of S, and then living and working here in Saskatoon during the summer. This was not the worst place I could have found. There was an ice cream shop a block from my building, you could walk downtown (if you wanted) or to Broadway, where there was a tea shop, a cheese store, a cupcake place and a music store. It was generally quiet, though you would hear sirens and concerts from across the city. But when the opportunity came to move out, I leaped on it. Because overall, the bachelor life was…well, let’s put it this way…

Here are the top 25 reasons why my new house is better than my bachelor apartment:

1. It’s a house.

2. There are actual rooms. I can leave my bedroom, go up the stairs into the kitchen, make breakfast, then take it to the dining room, eat it, then relax in the living room with a book. In the apartment, this was one room.

3. I don’t have to clean the entire house when company comes. If my room’s a mess, I can just close the door and hang out in another room.

4.  I can actually have people over for stuff, like board games or whatever. My guest list no longer has a max capacity of 3, limited mainly by the amount of chairs I had. Which also means…

5. I now have more than 3 seating options for myself.

6. My guitars have their own room (for now).

7.  If I want to play guitar, I can crank it up. No more headphones every time I want to plug in the electric. And I can actually break out the acoustic without people complaining. Hopefully. I haven’t actually played when other people are here. But, in theory, they shouldn’t.

8. I have two basements. This may sound a bit funny, but to get to my room, you must go down a small flight of stairs and into the first basement. There’s also a bathroom and a small living room where my guitars are (yes, I’ve taken over the first basement). It’s not a true basement, but most of it is underground, so it counts. Then there’s the unfinished, or second basement. That’s where the laundry and storage is. There may be plans to convert it into a gaming center, but that needs some planning and such. But still, two basements.

9. I have a backyard.

    10.   There can be BBQs in a backyard.

    

    11.   There can also be fires in the backyard. Like in a fire pit. Not just there. I think that might be arson.

    

    12.   I could even just sit out there in the morning with a book and a coffee and enjoy the sunrise…if the weather would ever smarten up.

    

    13.   There’s a kitchen with enough counter space to prepare meals. That is, if we didn’t have so many appliances.

    14.   I have a dishwasher. You have no idea how happy I was when I saw that I had a dishwasher.

    15.   There’s laundry facilities that don’t force me to spend 11 dollars just to do my laundry for the week. Even if the utility bill comes out to that, it still feels better than plunking coins.

    16.   Speaking of laundry, I no longer have to save every loonie, toonie and quarter I get. Now I can spend them on Big Macs.

    

    17.   I can stand straight up in the shower when I wash my hair. The shower head no longer is aimed at my throat.

    18.   I generally don’t want to avoid the people who share my building.

    19.   I don’t have to brace myself for people every time the elevator door opens, because the times I don’t, there’s a person there I wasn’t expecting, and then I jump, then realize he’s an East Indian, and then hope he doesn’t think I’m racist. Too much stress.

    20.   I can stay home all day and still be socialable. Roommates are awesome.

    21.   Another roommate benefit: internet suddenly becomes that much cheaper per month. Also, rent. And utilities. Basically, everything is cheaper.

    22.   I don’t have to plan as much if I want to do something. For example, this evening Ben had a friend visiting and they wanted to go see Guardians of the Galaxy, and asked if I wanted to go. I said yes. That was the extent of the planning. Living alone requires actual effort in setting things up, then someone has to drive somewhere to meet up.

    23.   Ben and Carter have Costco memberships. Which means I have access to a Costco membership. As long as they drag me along.

    24.   The temperature is adjustable. In the house, you can leave the furnace off for very cool, or turn it on and select the temperature you desire. In the apartment, you can open all the windows, keep the lights off until ten at night, wear as little clothes as possible, and then continue to melt because you have zero control over the five floors of rising heat. I had my heater on for about 3 weeks last year. That’s it.

    

    25.   Did I mention it’s a house?