Sail away...

Girls Night Out, or GNO, as we affectionately label such events, is an opportunity for women to get together approximately 4 times a year for the purpose of meeting new people, chillaxin with friends, and leaving responsibility behind for a few hours.

On July 11, 2010 we are headed to downtown Halifax to sail away on the MarII Tall Ship for a wonderful sailing experience. Arriving at the dock at 3:45pm for a 4:00pm sail time.

Sign-up is at the Welcome Center on Sunday. Pre-payment is required to hold reservations ($25.98). Spots are limited.
Erica MacKinnon and Leanne MacKinnon will be our captians.

Welcome aboard!!

Blooomin' Musings

Yes!! July is a perennial gardeners delight. Peak bloom for many plants has arrived....... the reward for hours of planting, transplanting, weeding, and fertilizing.

But NO!! This is not my favorite month of the year for weather, as it is for many gardeners. My perspirational body index is directly proportional to Nova Scotia's high humid ex. Sometimes three changes of clothes per day

A tension exists ~~~ favorite season for gardening/hobby; least favorite time for work (manual labor part of property maintenance).

The yin yang tension seems also to pervade all my life. How should I treat people, I don't. The no no's of interpersonal relationships, I do. Especially in marriage, focusing on nagging incidentals, indifferent to the marvellous blessings of my marriage partner.

The intoxicating beauty of lilies, daisies, and fuchsia filipendula beckons my attention from the distraction of labors sweaty clothes. I think my wife will enjoy the change, even though she lovingly chooses to wash my stinky laundry.

Norm

They're back....

That same group of senior friends (aka: party animals) who travelled to PEI on Friday, arrived home, safely last evening.

Time away gave them opportunity to get to meet new people as well as get to know one another better.

Good weather, good food, good fun, good friends, sound faith = good life.

Welcome home, we missed you.

Friday night, date night...

Last night was my third date with one of the cutest guys in the world - I mean it. And, no, I'm not biased. He really is cute. And he makes me smile and laugh - which is very important to me, and makes him even cuter in my eyes.

Let's see, after three dates what do I know about him - are we compatable?

Music and lights facinate him. I love music - and what can a good light show hurt?
Milk seems to be his drink of choice. So, we differ there.
He is happiest without his t-shirt on. Ok, so we differ there, too!
Ticklish under the chin and on the thighs. Same as me, only add my feet to the list.
His family is important to him, they truely love each other. Samesies.

I sure hope there is a number 4 in our future.

What do you love about your favorite, Friday night date?

PEI bound, party animals...

This very morning a group of 20 seniors, mostly ladies, (which makes me wonder over and over again - where are all the men?) left for a weekend adventure to Prince Edward Island. http://www.tourismpei.com/

My goodness, these women are busy.
Many of them serve in our Cubbies program on Wednesday mornings. Many of them attend a Care Group together on Thursday afternoons. Our Hospitality Committee is comprised of many of them.

They take care of each other and they keep each other company. They enjoy one another. The have been known to play the odd card game together, to take in the odd play, and cook/share the odd meal together.

In the Contempory English version of the Bible, Titus 2:3 says this, "Tell the older women to behave as those who love the Lord should. They must not gossip about others or be slaves of wine. They must teach what is proper,..."

Phwefff! I'm so glad it says older women. Aren't you?
I mean, afterall - we're not...

Oh my, might there be a 'younger lady' in your life, watching all you do and listening to all you say?

MORE than one you say.
Me too.

Thankfully, we have examples before us in the lives of these PEI bound, party animals. They work hard, serve hard and play hard. Their life is full. It seems they are very comfortable with the instruction Titus 2:3 gives them - they seem to be working it out.

Let's keep watching and listening.

When two isn't enough...

In the last few months I have had the opportunity to travel by airplane, more than once. And I have had the opportunity to file missing baggage claims, more than once, as well.

My luggage seems to enjoy taking the long way home. Where as I enjoy a much more direct route. But thankfully, it's been the long way home as oppossed to arriving at my initial destination without... well, without the essentials. While Most of us can relate to having spare underware and socks at home, it is a bit different when we consider pulling those items out of our purse.

Did you know that the airlines have a special term for luggage that becomes lost? Actually, there is a whole language formed around baggage claims and luggage search parties. The term for lost luggage is "orphan". Interesting, huh?

And, did you know that if an airline employee from Point A, who preferrably loves to rescue orphans, is unable to connect with another airline employee at Point B, C or D, who also loves to rescue orphans - there is simply no hope of you or me ever seeing our luggage again. It will remain in the deep, dark bowels of some airport with all the other orphans.

I'm two for two now. Two airlines, two flights, two lost pieces of luggage, two moments of frustration, two returned pieces of luggage, two more moments of feeling guilty for feeling frustration, two opportunities to learn patience, gratitude and flexibility.

Oh dear... while I have learned to be very thankful for airline employees who love rescuing "orphans", I do feel a third opportunity coming on.

I dare us...

I was out of town for a few days serving on National Council for Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches http://www.fellowship.ca/, of which my church http://srf.connect.com/ is a member.

During our meetings someone shared a prayer by Sir Francis Drake, who was an explorer and naval pioneer during the Elizabethan era.
It spoke to me.
It challenged me.
I share it with you.

"Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new Earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love."

—Sir Francis Drake

Wow. I dare us to pray that one, and mean it.

Have a... disturbing day.

Organize It

For some of us organize is a dirty word, for others this word brings comfort like a good book or a hot cup of tea. I realize that there are natural born organizers and I applaud you! There are others that I call the "want-a- be". They are always saying "I want to be more organized but just don't know how". I fall somewhere in the middle. I love organizing but still have many areas in my house that need work (my Tupperware cupboard for one).

As many of you know, I do a lot of paper crafting. With any kind of crafting there is always a ton of stuff!! So I am always on the hunt for creative ways to organize. I came across this great project to help contain some of my supplies. It came with the frame and little boxes that you need to assemble. You use paper to decorate the boxes anyway you want and the boxes are a perfect size for storing smaller items. I snapped a few pictures as I went along.

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The project only took a few hours to complete and matches my scrapbooking room perfectly. As I was working on the boxes, I thought of a few other places in the house to use something like this. It would be great for a little boy to store Lego. You could even glue little Lego pieces as the pulls for the drawers and use bright colors to decorate the boxes. You could make one for a little girl's room to hold barrettes, ribbons and elastics or jewelery. It could be used to store sewing supplies. The possibilities are endless.

For those of you who find organizing overwhelming, start with one drawer or closet. Work up to a whole room. When you have the right tools and the right frame of mind organizing can be rewarding.

I can hear my Tupperware cupboard calling my name...must go...organize it!

Head shot only please...

How many of you dodge a picture as soon as you see a camera? I might not dodge the camera but I'll say "Can you just get a head shot please?" Everything from the neck down is off limits for pictures. If people were to look through my family photos, they would wonder "Where is the rest of her body". So, to end these "head shots", I joined a weight loos program the other day for what seems like the millionth time to try and lose some weight. Stepping on that scale was humbling because there is NO denying what number pops up. I was a few pounds away from my delivery weight of my first child. Whoa! I was welcomed with open arms and I felt like I was the most important person in the room. The panel of women lead us like it was a comedy show which kept it light and fun. All was fine and dandy until a lady tapped me on the shoulder and said "I need to take a before picture". I stood there head and body attached for a picture. The only thing that made it ok was that it was a BEFORE picture. I am not alone as I have a great friend right alongside me for encouragement and accountability. And so goes the adventure for an end to the "head shots".

It's Monday and I Just Can't BEAR It!

If you've been to my house lately you'd see that I have a little taste of Christmas still kicking around. On my kitchen window sill sits some cute little festive-like bears spelling out the words "Merry Christmas." I'm ashamed of it....sooooo ashamed but I'll be darned if I'm taking them down. Six months ago...SIX! I asked my dear dear husband to get the box for me for them, from the high up Christmas box in the basement. He kept forgetting...and forgetting...and forgetting...and so began the saga of the festive Christmas bears. Now we treat them like a joke. Who will bend and take down the bears first? But it's no joke. We both suffer from EXTREME stubborness. I'm sure in his head he wonders why I don't just climb up and get the box myself, and I just don't understand how someone can forget THAT much. So there they sit, in all their holiday glory. Now, seeing as how my dear husband rarely looks out that window, I fully realize that the problem is mostly mine (mostly). Until I bring it up, he doesn't even remember they're even there. This morning I looked at them and thought, "it's a new week, I should start off Monday right and take those down." Yes, that's what I thought. But I couldn't, nope I couldn't. Being stubborn is a terrible disease, and I KNOW I'm not the only one out there who suffers with it. How would our lives...our relationships be different if being stubborn just wasn't a factor? If we could just admit when we're wrong, be the bigger person, ask for forgiveness when it really was our fault?? I can't imagine how frustrating it much be for Jesus to watch us doing such ridiculous things for the sake of stubborness. It's a disease, but a curable one. I can't say I'm cured, or will be anytime soon, but maybe by the next time I talk to you I can bring myself to take...down...those...BEARS!

I get that from my father...

Have you ever been out shopping for a specific article when all of a sudden you happen upon something that is just too difficult to resist?

It happened to me. I, quite innocently, stumbled upon simply the CUTEST towel ever designed for a little kiddie. It's blue, has a hood and arm holes, you know the type. The hood has two giant white eyes on it and all around the face are triangle shapped teeth. Then, to top it all off there is a dark blue fin on the top of the hood. Did I tell you it was the CUTEST towel I ever did see?

There were duckie ones, piggie ones, froggie ones and... but this one... oh my. See, I could actually picture a certain, cute little face peeking out from inside of it which made it impossible to resist. Leaving this towel for another unsuspecting customer would have been a crime. So it came home with me.

I said to my mom, "I can HARDLY WAIT to give this towel to Max." Mom said, "You get that from your father."

I get that from my father.
I get that from my father.
I get that from my father.
Yes, my dad liked giving gifts, too.

It is the perfect time to be reminded that, in this certain way, I am like my most amazing dad. What a beautiful compliment to me.

On this tribute day to father's, share with me how you resemble your dad.

I like to give gifts. What about you?

S l o w d o w n Day

You may have heard this before, "Sunday is a day of rest." Yes? No?
This comes from the book of Genesis. Genesis 2:2 to be precise. After God created the world He rested.

For me, Saturday is the day I try to take as my day of rest day. I work at my church http://www.stoneridge.com/ and get to see all my peeps on Sunday. So Saturday is my s l o w d o w n day.
My:
read a book day
sweat pants day
no make-up day
maybe stay in bed all morning day
enjoy a good cup of coffee day (Coconut flavor from Dominican Republic... yummmmm)
avoid stores, if possible, day
let's play day

However, from what I have observed and heard, Saturday is anything but a day of rest for most. It seems that Saturday is a very busy day in many households throughout HRM, maybe even throughout Nova Scotia, and dare we say - even across our nation.

Saturday is:
errand day
shopping day (prom is coming fast)
birthday party day
mow the lawn day
clean the house day
wash the car day
looking forward to the babysitter coming day.

Saturday is not everyone's day of rest day.
Whether is is a day of rest or a day of business, Saturday is different than Monday thru Friday. And change is as good as a rest.

What are you doing today?
I'm going shopping ;o)

PS: I just got a whiff of fresh cut grass through an open window. My mother is out mowing the lawn - no lie. Not her day of rest either.

Lovin it...

I begin a study with a few couples. These couples are Marriage Mentors.
That means they spend time with other couples, building relationships that support, encourage and guide . It is a beautiful thing.

I love when we give away - give away our agenda, give away our time, give away our life lessons. It seems God teaches us lessons and then gives us opportunity to apply and to share those lessons. (we generally will do both, if we live unselfishly and vunerably with our own lives, our own time and our own agenda)

And I love that God gave us marriage.

So, see how Marriage Mentoring can be a beautiful thing? Couples giving away their lives, their time and their agenda to couples who need experience, attention and hope.

Check out the book Sacred Marriage, by Gary Thomas - tell me what you think.
And, ask me about Marriage Mentoring.

A not-so-surprise party…

There was a show on last evening called TV’s Most Surprising Moments.

I don’t know about you, but I love it when a show or a movie surprises me, when the plot throws an unexpected curve into my thought pattern. It pumps me right up.
However, for some strange reason, when God surprises me with an unexpected curve in my life pattern I don’t seem to get as pumped up.

Check out a verse I read the other evening:
“They did what your (God’s) power and will had decided beforehand should happen.”
Acts 4:28

There it is – written out for all to read. God will surprise us but NOTHING surprises Him. Everything that happens was decided, beforehand, by Him. And in this instance, what He knew beforehand was that people were going to plot against Jesus.

It seems the conundrum comes when He chooses to invite you and me in on His plan for you and me, or invite us to His not-so-surprise party.

The conundrum, for us, comes at the very moment we choose to accept the invite or demand a different party.

I want to get better at accepting His invites. After all, if anyone is going to be not-so-surprised, it’s far better that it be our All Knowing God.

What not-so-surprise party has He invited you to, lately?

I'm sooooo full...

All I ate was veggies and a low fat wrap (it's a good day) but my tummy is f u l l.

My heart is full, too.
There are many people to
care for,
pray for,
encourage.

Please care for, pray for and encourage someone today. Who knows, God might even have us "love on" some of the same people!

Blue sky and pooooffy, white clouds…

What is it about blue sky and pooooffy white clouds that make me smile differently than a sky that is colored many different hues of grey?

My car seems sportier.
My clothes seem newer.
My house seems cleaner.
My lunch seems tastier.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… I’m thankful for blue sky and pooooffy, white clouds.

Kraft Dinner and tuna...

My Ultimate comfort food.
It reminds me of Saturday lunches as a kid.
It reminds me of holding noodles over my glass of milk, on the tongs of my fork, while pretending I was roasting hotdogs. (not even joking)
It reminds me of my family and makes me smile.

What’s your comfort food?

The wheels on the bus…

Are supposed to go round and round. However, today our church bus decided it was quite done. And, just like that our Pre-school class was stranded at the Wildlife Park.

Can you imagine the mind aerobics taking place within Mrs. Debbie and Mrs. Fran?

But it all worked out.
Some kiddies got home with their parents who were there volunteering. Hey - you guys are the best!
Some kiddies got home via the generosity of Rock Church staff who brought their church bus “to the rescue”. Hey – you guys do Rock!

We all need to be rescued at one time or another. And while our needs can ensue differing levels of panic, and while we can’t always predict how it will happen… rescue does comes. Rescue does come.