Free hugs

Whoever has more than one blog is either: 1.) very very very bored 2.) a paid "blogger" 3.) someone who has way too much time on his/her hands 4.) has very important things to say 5.) thinks he/she has something very import to say 6.) lame. I think you know what I'm getting at here....this blog has not been my strong point during my time in Chicago....thank you to all of you who actually take the time to read it though. I will now grace the world with my thoughts and feelings....and rightfully so.

The other day I walked up and down Michigan Ave (the magnificent mile) holding a sign that said "Free Canadian Hugs." This was done in order to show friendliness and hospitality towards people who we had never known before they hugged us (me and tim). We had a lot of people who made comments about how they liked what we were doing...and even more who simply smiled and walked by....and still, about 30 people gave us a hug. Some said "thats exactly wat i needed." That was always very reassuring and made me feel a little less awkward. This obviously took me out of my comfort zone...and even though this wasnt directly attached to ministry, a lot of people asked me about what I believed, and why I was doing this....it was interesting.

For the past day and a half, we had a guest speaker who spoke to us about evangelism and peace. His name was James Krabill. He spoke about Shalom and how often, our modern translations of the Bible dont do the word justice. He spoke of shalom as peace both vertically (between God and us) and horizontally (between us and the earth and our neighbours). I found this very helpful because it made it obvious that words without actions are useless, and actions without faith less useful. He challenged us a lot and I really enjoyed it.

This has been a very brief snapshot of my week...have an excellent day

Kyle