A "no fun" night...

And I felt like a silly goose.......

Leaving for a meeting in the dark - 7 p.m. - taking your humongous 4X4, driving the speed limit down 22nd Street and in the darkness you notice cars driven up on snow piles by the side of the road, some cars stuck, some parked and unable to turn around....and you find yourself in the middle of over 2 feet of water. You try and slow down somewhat but S-P-L-A-S-H.....and you don't dare slow down any more as traction is becoming extremely difficult so you plow your way through a water main break situation.

Oh, did I mention.....the temperature is nearing minus 30C.......

I manage to get through but other vehicles are not so fortunate.

Get to meeting....but wondering all the while if the truck will freeze up before I get home!!??

Grab honkin' big minute book bag, and since I don't drive this truck all too often, I have to be thinking about where this and that is on the dash board and all that stuff.....and begin to eventually descend.

Not thinking about the outside of the vehicle too much, I take a looooong step down from this brawny half ton and place my foot on the running board and........

Foot slips off running board and down goes me with back landing on running board and hind end in a pile of ice.

I guess the running board was icy!!!

Have over two hour meeting in hard chair.

Come home.

After explaining to husband my ordeals he enthusiastically states:

"You mean you didn't think that the running board would have ice on it!!!???"

He's in my baaaaaaad books.....and I've got a soooooooore back.

The art of pouring cement.....

These two fine young men are in the business of concrete. Cement, that is. Readying the houses for concrete. Making forms. Pouring cement. Removing forms. Next job...and so on.

Matthew and Greg. Buddies through school....graduating together. Bible College together. Both living now in Winnipeg.

Now the two are pouring cement for the same company....in an effort to raise some much needed cash.

Hard labor is good for body, mind and soul....not sure about the spirit.

So, Mother (that's me) phones son (that's Matt), and the following conversation ensues:

Mother: Hi Dear. How's the first concrete day?

Son: Oh, pretty good.

Mother: There's a wind chill for Winnipeg. Did you dress warmly?

Son: Oh sure.

Mother: Were your feet warm?

Son: Yes.

Mother: Do you have steel toed boots?

Son: Yep. A hundred dollar boots.

Mother: Did you wear a toque? Ears are the first to get frostbite.

Son: Uh-huh...

Mother: What about your hands? You know how cold your hands get.

Son: Ya, pretty much warm. They got a little cold after I got my gloves wet though.

Mother: You should carry an extra pair of gloves, don't you think?

Son: Probably.

Mother: Do you have to work when it's really cold out? They really shouldn't allow that.

Son: No, not if it's really cold.

Mother: Well, I'm glad about that.

Son: Ya, me too!

Mother: Are you working on a guitar right now? (as great music is heard over the phone)

Son: ........(more great music being played)

Mother: Well, that's how I'll be able to hear you play your guitar from now on....when you're repairing them.

Son: .......(more twangs and all kinds of musical miracles are played with great gusto and passion)

Mother: Just give me a call next time you're fixing another one of those things. I do love to hear you play.

Son: ......chuckle.....sure.

Mother: Well, sounds like you've had a hard, busy day doing concrete things and now you're repairing guitars all evening. You probably need some rest.

Son: I'm nearly finished the guitar now (followed by a loud peel of stringed vibrato!!!)

Mother: How was Kim's first day back at school?

Son: She had one lab today but she's in for a huge workload in that class. She's fine though.

Mother: I hope she will do fine in it.

Son: Oh, I think she will.

Mother: I'd better leave you to your repair work dear. I love you, dear.... and say hi to Kim.

Son: I love you too. I will.

Mother: 'Nite.

Son: 'Nite.

I wonder if all mother's are as "interested" in their children's comings and goings as I am?

Probably.:-)

Now, to phone daughter......they're having a snow storm in Regina.........

Relationship...

Somehow, I can't get past this "relationship" thing with God. It is infusing me....can I say that??? It's constantly on my mind and in my thoughts.

We talked about it tonight at our "book reading gathering". Over and over again we brought up the subject of how important relationship with God is. We can't make it a one time thing, a one time decision to love him and then leave it at that. We can't say we know God and simply stop. It's up to us as to how we are going to keep that relationship growing.

It's the same when we get married. We say our "I do's" but we don't leave it there. If we did, we would have simply a relationship of just that - of saying our vows, in words only. It takes us getting to know each other and developing that relationship, really working at it that keeps it growing and evolving into something better, something more beautiful and more real and true.

So, in the same way, in order to keep on with our relationship with God, it takes work and dedication and an acting out of what we have initially said to Him - our vows, as it were. In the beginning we said we would follow Him and love Him and do what needed to be done to grow our relationship with Him.

If we all kept growing in our relationship with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, we would be where we are supposed to be in our faith and in our walk with Him. Sometimes we falter, and stumble and actually stop, but it's up to us to continue on in that walk. We must make the choice to go ahead.

I pray for my (our) relationship with Christ to grow and become something beautiful and pleasing and fruitful...like a seed changing into a beautiful plant, complete with fruit, fruit that will last.

Health...

As we at Gateway, end our "Week of Prayer", I have had ample time to consider what exactly constitutes the health of a church? I think it's many things.

Loving - putting the other person before myself.

Having someone care about me even when I'm unlovable, do stupid things, speak rudely and when I'm a total jackass.

Have people take enough interest in me to set me back on a good path, if I've wandered off, even if it means swallowing a bucket of pride in the process. I need a reality check at times!! We all do. But if I find myself in the middle of a mess, I need to be accountable for my mess to those I have hurt and those I love and repent of it.

Also, prayer comes in handy... (tongue in cheek). Actually prayer is the main ingredient here.

When I talk to God about the people I love and care for and the things that concern me, that is what shows that I have a relationship with Him. If I didn't believe that, it would be like talking to a gum wrapper and lives wouldn't change or grow. There is something in relationship with God, that makes true relationship with others possible. He started it. He created us. He wanted to know us and for us to know him, and in that relationship, trust is built and we begin to know and be known.

So, when a church comes together, with whatever gifts they have been given by God, and these gifts are used to help and encourage and care for and love each other in honest and true relationship, that is where we can begin to be fruitful and healthy. I say begin, because it doesn't stop there. A whole world outside the church walls waits for us to care for them and provide for their needs and offer them hope.

We've got a good grasp of health within the church.

Now we must expand our horizons. I wonder what our next steps will be to bring health to a very needy world.

Just keep us in good health God.....physical AND spiritual.

I need to learn something....

Well, here we are, in the grip of winter. Snow piled upon snow. Snow everywhere.

And cold. Really cold.

So, as I was watching one of my favorite channels this morning, "The Weather Network", I heard one of the announcers say "And it's only 18 more weeks folks!!!"

It grabbed my attention.

I figured I was the only person with a huge countdown going on every year. With me, of course, it's Christmas. I always put my little sign up on the wall at work stating that it's only "110 days 'til Christmas".

Well, I listened to her. She said that we should be working our way quickly through winter since it's only 18 weeks until the May long weekend!!

I figured I was just as bad as she was in wishing away my life in terms of wanting something else, something more, something different from what I have right now.

No wonder my life seems to be running faster than a herd of flees....tic...tic....tic.....

I keep wanting winter to be over so spring can come.

I want spring to be over so summer can come and we can go on vacation.

Hurry up with fall already. I want winter, with Christmas, to be here.

Notice I didn't even include wanting fall to come. I don't like fall to begin with.

So, this is it folks. I need to start appreciating every season and not wishing it away. Like my own life too. When I experience good things, I need to appreciate them and not complain about anything. Why would I complain anyway??? And when not-so-good times come, I need also to learn from those times and not wish them away like they are going to destroy me. One day, they will destroy me..........and you........when we die. But until then, I need to learn that lesson. To appreciate all things that are handed to me and learn something from them.

Today it's cold. At least I'm healthy. I have a home and a husband and family and food and a job and 2 vehicles and books and more clothing than I need and a computer and phones and glasses so I can see and good friends...........see what I mean. I need to learn to appreciate today and everything in it. Everything.

So, here's to TODAY!!!

Cheers! (although it may take me a lifetime to learn this lesson, I say to myself....)

I simply remember my faaaaavorite things.....

And then I don't feeeeeel sooooo bad..........

People I know have been saying farewell to their children as they head off to their own homes and places of education, far enough away that they aren't within a day's travel.

It's difficult.

No fun.

It's grieving.....a separation from someone we love.

It happens in our house too, when our children return back home again. (I must remember that home is no longer P.A.)

Anyway, those are the times when we need comfort and someone to let us cry a bit and let us mourn.....or even sing......

Remember the good old Julie Andrews song "My Favorite Things"?

It helps. Some of it goes like this.....I think.....I could be wrong.........

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things!

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels

Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

These are a few of my favorite things!

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eye lashes

Silver white winters that melt into spring

These are a few of my favorite things!

When the dog bites, when the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad,

I simply remember my favorite things

and then I don't feeel so bad!"

I can hear you................:-)

Don't you just feel a wee bit better???

A fence cone and the like....

I think, if I were a kid and all, I'd go outside and take a whopping big bite out of that snow cone that sits atop our fence.

Wouldn't you?

I sometimes enjoy doing things I did when I was a child......eating snow, making footprints one way and backing up carefully so it looks like someone just stopped in the middle of nowhere, shaking a snow-laden tree really hard when someone is under it, or make a winding path through a field of fresh snow and then just sit down in it.

I think God likes it when we play in his creation. He made it just for us after all.

I think on my day off Friday, I'll take husband into the forest to play. Who knows what kind of fun we'll have.;-) I'll take my camera too....just in case........