Published: June 11, 2025 at 09:45 PM

Tags: conference, island-books, gospel-message, writing, projects, personal

This past weekend was the Halifax Bible Conference, and I came away both refreshed and challenged. The focus of the Bible study and ministry was 2 Corinthians chapters 1 through 6. These chapters are rich with instruction and comfort, and the ministry was both clear and deeply rooted in Scripture. As usual, the conference delivered on all fronts; spiritually uplifting messages, good food, far too many sweets, and wonderful fellowship with believers from across the region.

For me it was also a new experience. I traveled with several from my local assembly that I haven’t spent much time with before. A mix of adults and teens, a little convoy in five vehicles. Our group stayed in the home of one of their friends, a beautiful place tucked just off the water and only twenty minutes from the Gospel Hall.

The hosts were gracious, and the full breakfasts were only matched by the warmth of the conversations. I made sure to personally thank them before leaving, and as a group, we gave them a card of thanks. I hope to see them again. New connections like this remind me how large, and yet how closely knit, the family of God truly is.

Shifting gears to writing updates, I recently received the final edited version of my next article for RED the Island Magazine. I reviewed and approved the changes, so it’s now fully set to appear in the upcoming issue next month. That said, I still need to wrap up my article for their special Christmas edition. I have most of it written, but it needs some refining, basically, I need to tone it down a little, remove some of my usual chaos, and make it resonate with a wider audience. So… maybe not as close to being done as I had hoped. Hah.

I also purchased a few more Island books from a local auction. I’m still figuring out storage for a previous lot that included stacks of old newspapers. Storage solutions aside, I’m happy to say the Island book collection is now fully catalogued, and I hope to make that list available here on the website soon. For anyone who shares a love of PEI history, that might be of interest.

Another new page is in the works: a “Projects” page, where I can store and share files from various ongoing efforts. It’ll act as a convenient hub, especially helpful when I need to send links to others or just keep my progress organized. Expect to see that appear soon in the site’s top navigation bar.

Two projects I’ve just wrapped up include photographing what remains of a 1910 store ledger (later repurposed as a newspaper scrapbook), and a similar scrapbook album created using a 1964 phone book. Both books are worn and fragile, but filled with historical charm. They were loaned to me by residents of Glenwood, PEI, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to preserve and study them.

This coming Sunday, I’ll be delivering a short Gospel message (around 10 to 15 minutes) at the seniors’ home. I’ve also been preparing both a Gospel message for the hall and a ministry message dealing with my own insecurities. My hope is that by speaking honestly about what I’m working through, someone else might find encouragement to keep going through their own struggles.

All in all, I think that gets me mostly caught up. Maybe I should be updating this blog more regularly, waiting too long makes these posts longer than they need to be.

And lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say this: praise be to God. There are days I wouldn’t get through if it weren’t for His grace, His strength, and His unfailing presence.