Happy Easter Monday!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend complete with time to celebrate and to reflect.

After our church celebration we were able to come home and do an Easter egg hunt outside.

I am thankful that nobody took a picture of me climbing on the garage roof to get my chocolate...what we (I) will do for chocolate!

For those of you in the Wednesday night Bible study. We are back at it again this week at 6:45pm and will be discussing and watching Week 9/Session 9: Gentle Giants. We only have 2 sessions left, let's finish strong!

If you aren't at the study and are looking for something to work through right now, you may want to consider "So Long Insecurity". It isn't a formal in depth Bible study by Beth Moore but as one might expect the read is engaging and conversational and the work it encourages is life changing. There will be a number of copies for sale at church in the next few weeks at the same table that we are selling tickets for the "So Long Insecurity" simulcast. Come, check it out!

A Heartfelt Gift

Although I shared a few wonderful picture memories of our family trip to Florida what I haven't shared yet is the wonderful gift I received from my Mom.

We had been together in Florida long enough to have hugged everyone, brought in our luggage and checked out our living quarters for the next 8 days when I spotted a LARGE creative memories photo album. Mom is often busy scrap booking and so naturally I assumed it was her handiwork. So I asked what was in the album. As Leanne (my sister) responded Mom sprinted to her bedroom only to come back with a very large package. It was another memory album for me!! Mom had gone to a lot of work to create 3 albums, one for each child, from our parents' childhood to their wedding to our births - school years and our own weddings, their grandchildren all up until my Dad passed away in 2000. Needless to say I have been emotionally moved by her act of love. My Mom is not one to speak words of sentiment often but her creative genius, her ability to decorate and make any room beautiful is incredibly inspiring. She puts her outfits together with the same care. We have enjoyed looking through the albums with both laughter and tears. What was so comforting to me was that Mom thought to do this and carried it out. I love seeing what she put in each of the books but just the thought of her taking the time to put this all together to create a memory and to show her continuing love was incredible on its own.

Mom's gift has reminded me about the process of grieving and living beyond the grief; seeing the hope the lay ahead. Grieving takes time, it takes energy and it seems to continue with me through my journey teaching lessons and reminding me of things I want to pass on to my children. Although the immediate pain of the loss is gone, new situations arise. We have parts of our lives that have no memory of our loved one even though they live on through a smile, a wink, a hug, a good joke.
I had an inconvenient grieving experience on Space Mountain at Disney of all places. When I was a young girl - much the age of Megan - I went on the Space Mountain ride with my Dad. I was a bit scared and he assured me that it would be great and he held me and laughed the entire ride. I remember loving the ride and being comforted by his laughter. So here I am this time doing the same to my daughter Megan, only she is not consoled and I am fighting back the tears remembering how much fun my Dad was but at the same time I am thinking about the automatic pictures that are taken on the ride to purchase afterwards and I am telling Megan just to close her eyes so that she wouldn't throw up!!!

As Good Friday is upon us we remember the love that God has for us. The hope that He has given us. Hope that allows us to continue on through the hard times and to give out of what we have learned in the hard times. That His love is able to fill us with reason for living more than any personal longing fulfilled ever would.

I pray that we will take time to reflect on God's gift of love and that we will know Christ more and the power of His resurrection. (Phil 3:10)

Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear [sisters], stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
Romans 15: 54b - 58

Some picture memories!

A couple of weeks ago our family travelled to Florida to spend a week with my family. We had such a wonderful and relaxing time.
We went on a nature walk at Caladesi Island State Park. This was the most idyllic spot. I tried to capture it as best I could so that I could return there anytime I wanted!

Beautiful shells.
A very kind couple took pity on my unpreparedness - as I was shelling without a pail. They came back to me with a grocery bag so I wouldn't have to juggle my collection in my arms.

Cute stuff is right!

Our next home...

The whole crew! Unfortunately my brother and his family could not join us this time. We missed them horribly.

My Mom and Son.

The cousins.

We all enjoyed reading some of our favourite books.

And being able to do just about everything outside.

Thanks for sharing some memories with us!

Spring Break!

I realize I shouldn't be as excited for spring break as I am after coming off of a two week holiday. It sure is nice to be home with the kids though.

This morning I was able to have a date with Alexander as the girls were occupied with the SHINE drama. When I asked Alexander what he wanted to do together he quickly laid out an itinerary. Most importantly, and first on the list was to show his Mom how to play Mario Brothers!! That is NO simple task. I die very easily on video games. Dave is quite perplexed at how bad I am after having spent so many years of complex hand eye coordination at the piano.
This isn't Alexander's first time trying to help me with video type games. He did write this note for me. I keep it on the fridge for quick reference!

We had a lot of fun playing and given that he is WAY more advanced than I am, he was very patient with me. At one point he asked if I wanted him to piggyback me in the video game so that I wouldn't die again in that tough spot. How sweet is that!!! He thought so too because he said "I am a good son!"

After the gaming was done we went and rode on the kids scooters. Very thankful I didn't break one.


I took the dog along too. I guess I was trying to compensate for my weak showing in the video game by multi tasking on the ride! I was just praying that I wouldn't have an accident story to tell after we were through as the dog and I had different agenda's for what our ride together would look like!

We were able to pack a few other fun things in our time together as well. It was a good day. One of those days where when it was time to pick Dave up from work, I realized that supper was still an idea in my head. I had spent a large portion of time in the afternoon helping the kids set up their play mobile.

I am so thankful to God for my family. For time together with them. God has used our kids in a powerful way to change me into being a more devoted disciple of His.

Hello Ladies,

It has been awhile since I've posted anything. We are having a such a good time with family! I will write more later.

I wanted to send a quick note as you are studying in God's Word, to keep at it! It can become habit to try to work out and fix our problems by figuring out our own plans our own ways. However, our methods seem to perpetuate the very problem we are trying to get rid of. As I was working through such a situation this morning (situations don't take holidays!)I was directed to Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

In Day 5, of homework we read;

"Have you ever found His word to be misleading? Has He ever tried to harm you with His Word? Certainly not!
"God's Word is always for the purpose of bringing good...Profit outweighs importance of pain or pleasure."

God loves each one of you so much and desires to meet you in your greatest need.

Lessons From My Dog!

The most frustrating thing about having a dog is when our dog acts like a dog! With the ravages of winter, our makeshift fence has taken a beating and Max has found ways to jump over or wiggle underneath when the motivation is strong enough, ie. the neighbouring dog is out, the deer are visiting, a rabbit runs by...a squirrel! The funny thing about this whole running away thing is that he knows it is wrong! He sees us coming to get him and doesn't want to meet up with us. He knows we are angry and that he has done wrong by us. When we catch up, he stands there looking out his peripheral, drops his tail and head and basically goes completely limp. When we get back into the house he sits there raising his paw over and over again in apology. At that point you are left looking into pathetically sad little puppy eyes and think, "you're just a dog following your instincts, what more can I expect!"
We are working on training him. If we watch him and he sees us in the window, that stops him dead in his tracks. Training takes dedication. It takes complete commitment to training the same way every time he goes out.

A recent replay on this situation near midnight the other night!!! reminded me of a few things I have read over this past week. I read about how, in Noah's time, God was grieved and His heart filled with pain over the humans evil inclinations. That "every inclination of the thoughts were only evil all the time." (Gen. 6:5 - 6) I've also been reading that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Phil.4:13). When I think about my human inclination and how lousy my willpower is; I can see how I have grieved God by my attempts to become "Jr. god!" I have constant access to the Holy Spirit, who will help me choose not to jump over the fence. It is so important that I have dogged determination to bow to the rule of Christ's authority in my life as I work to overcome stronghold's and avoid snares.

God has created us with the ability to choose and we are faced daily with counterfeits that need to be tested against the truth. In case you needed this encouragement today too, here is a verse that I am reading and repeating over and over:

Psalm 28:7 NRSV
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in Him my heart trusts;
So I am helped, and my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to Him.

From the Mouths of Babes

A number of years ago as I was browsing through a table of books on clearance I came across a pocket sized hardcover called, "While Shepherds Washed Their Flocks by Night". It was a book of sayings from children. I bought it and read through it quickly and was quite delighted by it. I decided that I was going to keep a journal of neat sayings that came from my own children's mouth's. I have really enjoyed recording these moments with them and have so regretted the ones that I missed. Sometimes they are profound and other times just plain funny. The kids refer to them as often as our photo books. Just this past week at Alexander's guitar lesson before playing a song that caused him difficulty and lots of hard practice during the week, he gritted his teeth and said with conviction, "Let's do this!"

This past week Monica sent me an email with a number of these sayings, quite profound in nature, regarding love. Given the Bible study discussions and sermons on love I thought these might provide another angle to enjoy.

What Love means to a 4-8 year old . .

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds,
'What does love mean?'
Here are the answers:

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'
Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'
Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'
Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'
Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'
Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that.
They look gross when they kiss'
Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents
and listen.'
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)
'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'
Nikka - age 6

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday..'
Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'
Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.
He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'
Cindy - age 8

'My Mommy loves me more than anybody
You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'
Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'
Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.'
Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'
Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'
Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image)
Karen - age 7

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'
Mark - age 6

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'
Jessica - age 8
And the final one

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbour was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.
Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.
When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbour, the little boy said,
'Nothing, I just helped him cry'