Weekend photos

The girls and I finally got a night up at the trailer this past weekend. Mom and Dad have upgraded to a larger trailer, with less sleeping quarters. We managed to make it work, though.

Shannon learned to mow the yard. Dad's thrilled in hopes that he can give up this duty at home soon. Bex is also ready to learn. Oddly, I have never learned, nor do I want to learn. My grass allergies are just too awful.

Shannon also built us our fire as Dad, Bex and I built the barbecue. It helps to move things along when you know you don't get fed until it's built. Bloody thing actually works too!

Good times.

Toronto FC

The girls and I went to our first Toronto FC game on the weekend. They had a Sony fan of the game crew there who took this picture of us (which includes Bex's friend Mallory and Shannon's friend Erika). This was taken before the game and, fortunately, before my sunburn became too discernable.

I have tickets for another game at BMO Stadium in September. I think I might just leave the girls at home and take some friends. Hmmmm, sadly I don't think I have four friends for my four extra tickets. Here's a goal for me this summer . . . . make friends!

Teens

Well, I've started to come to the realization that I'm a mother of a teenaged daughter. Although there are many perks (such as having more grown up conversation and being able to leave her home alone), there are challenges too. It would seem that although Bex looks like her father (we call her Tim bit) she has an awful lot of me in her. She's brilliant (of course, if she's like me), but LAZY. She's never had to work at school and has been on the honour roll all the way through . . . until now.

Of course, we'll truly see when the report card comes out next month if she's not, but she's not doing so well this semester. She's failed a few tests and has assignments overdue. I was not really aware of her school struggles until a teacher called me at work on Friday. Yes, it was at this moment that I really understood that Bex is a teenager. Of course, it could definitely be worse . . . . much worse . . . but it was bad enough. Bex was given an extension on an assignment. On Friday, when it was a month overdue, the teacher asked Bex for her work. My darling daughter replied with "I don't think I can do that".

Now, I'd love to be able to say that to an employer. David, you want me to run those reports for you? I don't think I can do that. Susan, you want me to set up these new accounts? I don't think I can do that. Definitely not a line that goes very far in real life . . . nor did it at school I might add.

Wrong as Bex was, she is taking her punishment very well. I have volunteered her for detention this week, have denied her computer privileges and she had to write a letter of apology to the teacher. I have also spoken to her principal, so she had a wee little chat with him today.

All in all I think the school understands that we are supportive of them in educating our daughter and our daughter understands that we are supportive of her in her education.

Again, things could be worse and I definitely know that. Do you suppose, however, this could just be the start of something bigger? Worse yet, I have always expected Shannon to be harder to deal with so what will she be like at this age?

Lord, please give me strength and wisdom. I think I'm going to need it . . . and a whole lot of patience would be good too, but I don't really want it tested to see how much of it I've got.

Wellness

It may be well with my soul, but my insides are killing me. I went to a Unite in Worship conference on Saturday with four others from our worship team. What an awesome day! There were times when I was dizzy and blamed it on the euphoria, times when I was cold and blamed it on the fact that I was underdressed, but when the evening came and I was sweltering, dizzy and then cold I realized I might be catching something.

Sunday morning confirmed this for me. I was in the middle of our worship practice before church when I was doubled in pain. I managed to make it through the service . . . .barely, and ran home to climb into bed. Monday morning I was feeling better and got myself to work when I realized the pain was still there. Today. . . still there. I've now been to my doctor (okay, another doctor in the practice . . . my doctor's never available for a same-day appointment) who has sent me for a plethora of tests. I guess it will either get better or I'll have some answers next week.

I do need to go back to work and my family duties, so I could really use prayer right now.

Martha

I need to post something here because Martha is long gone and yet the top of my page says she's here. She is, indeed, not here any longer.

What a whirlwind weekend we had when she was here, though. I ate so much and drove so much and rarely slept more than five hours. By the time she was gone, I was a wreck. I do not know how she made it through with her weary pregnant body.

Although I was physically a wreck, I most certainly was lifted up spiritually while she was here. Martha is not only family, but she's a dear friend. We can pick right up as though we never were apart. In fact, there were times when it felt as though we were right back to our late teens/early twenties. During some pretty trying times of struggle they are experiencing lately, I'm encouraged by Martha and her husband Dave's ability to keep their eyes focused on what God has planned for them. They both know He has something in store for them.

I already miss you Martha. I wish you were closer so we could just get together for tea and let our children run rampant together.

Next visitor . . . Martha's brother Jeff on May 4th. Another weekend that I will be at a conference in Brampton, however. This time it's a worship conference with Robin Mark, Brian Doerksen and Geoff Moore. I'm stoked!!

She's here!

I had an uneventful drive to the airport and managed to find parking in the parkade without too much issue. I made note of where I parked the car (even noted it in my Blackberry). It was in F6.

Well, what I didn't notice was that there was also a great big number on the post telling me what floor I was on. I just assumed the 6 in the F6 was the floor number. I was WRONG!! It seemed so easy to get into the airport, but when we were walking to the car we had an option of going down a ramp to level 4, or up to levels 5 and up. So, we went up.

Finding no sign of an F6 there we got in an elevator and went to the 6th floor. Oddly, my car wasn't there either. The panic button was ineffective at locating my car on other floors it seems.

Fortunately, I found a nice young guy working there who directed me to a specific elevator and told me to go to level 4. Lo and behold, there was my car. I will never make fun of my ex for having done this to me twice in the past. Okay, I probably will make fun of him, but I just won't tell him about my not finding my own way back.

Anyhow, Martha is here, safe and sound. This weekend is just going to go by too quickly, I reckon.

A good laugh is good medicine

Of course, having a father like mine is usually cause for a good laugh, but tonight had me in stitches. We (Mom, Dad and I) had a lovely dinner at Luke and Jen's and then a great time sitting about and bantering.

When we got into the car to come home, I won the esteemed chauffeur position (actually, I don't even fight this one any more . . . I have just accepted the fact that I'm the better driver). Anyhow, when we all got in the car the interior light was still on as was the door open sign. We all checked our doors and found that the front passenger door, where Dad was sitting, wouldn't latch. Dad slammed it a few times, but decided it would thaw as we were driving.

I have to say that I felt like we were in a Chevy Chase movie. There was just something about Dad gripping the door, which would open ever few seconds far enough to turn the interior light on and make the door open sign "ding". Many many jokes were made on the drive home (like Dad suggesting he could maybe get a deer with it), which seemed like an eternity at fifteen minutes.

Sure enough, when we pulled in the driveway . . . the door latched.

Murphy is alive and well!!

Which way is up?

Okay, so I've been a very bad blogger . . . AGAIN! I tend to read other people's blogs, yet I spend no time talking about me and my life. Truth be told, I've been so busy I can hardly see straight.

Hmmm, where to start? Bex did not make the Waterloo soccer team. So, I called Guelph to register her for house league . . . they were full! Then I made a Saturday trip to Fergus to register her for their inter-city team. I was told the coach would call to let us know when the practice/tryouts were. No call came.

I knew that Kitchener A was looking for players, but as Bex didn't make the B team in Waterloo I figured that might be a stretch (and another blow to her self-esteem) so we didn't bother. Then I noticed that Kitchener B was looking for players. I guess they lost some to the A team. I called the coach and found out that he was all ready to make his final cuts, but he would give Bex a one-time shot at things on Monday night of this week. She was AWESOME!! Honestly, if she'd played like that in Waterloo there wouldn't have been any issue. Anyhow, she made the team. I'm happy for her, but man does this make my life hectic . . .

Monday - Bex westling after school and then soccer practice in Kitchener, Shannon practice in
Guelph
Tuesday - Worship team practice for me
Wednesday - Bex wrestling, Bex referee training 6:30 - 8:00, both girls soccer 8:30 - 10:00
Thursday - Bex practice in Kitchener (this is going to start interfering with youth group!)
Friday - Bex's birthday (she turned down refereeing two games this evening and a social in Kitchener)
Saturday - Youth group Amazing Race
Sunday - Church and dinner with friends (we were also supposed to have students over for lunch, but they cancelled due to exams

Above and beyond all this, I am studying for my Canadian Securities Course, which is like Greek to me. I'm currently in the chapter on economics, thus the time I found to blog! Yep, I'm really having issues getting through this chapter.

Calgon, take me away!!

I WANT to file my taxes

Of course I do, because as a poverty stricken single mother in 2006 (by choice, of course) I am due a rather nice refund. I even qualified for free tax preparation using Quick Tax Web. I have prepared my own return and am ready to net file it . . . except . . . I can't bloody get it to be accepted at the CRA end.

Okay now, I understand that today is February 28 and there will be many companies filing their T4's, but won't there be many more people filing personal income tax returns on April 30? Does this mean they won't be able to do it because the government site can't handle the traffic? It would appear so. I called them last night (when I was first having problems) and they told me everything was working fine so what was my problem. Today, however, I had a sweet girl who tried this line at first "do you have a firewall that is preventing this?". Ummmmm, no, I just paid a bill in my online banking and checked my Mastercard balance so I think I can get into secure sites. Then she puts me on hold and comes back with this bit about the system being rather busy because it's the 28th.

I guess it's a good thing I still have two whole months to file this bloody thing. It just might take me that long to get through!

BRF - Psalm 119 (should I call this BRSaturday or even BRSunday?)

Oh dear, a sheepish post is coming. I read the scripture daily, but I cannot put into words my thoughts in full.

All I can say is that I'm really pleased that I was given the challenge of reading this scripture daily. What perfect timing was it to read about the love of God's precepts, laws etc. when I was starting a new job and might forget that God is the sole provide of my needs (both physical and spiritual). Heck, I could read these passages daily from here to eternity and never find a day when they do not encourage or apply to my life and yet I am not even close in verbosity (like this new word of mine? A good scrabble word don't ya know) to the author of this book. I will constantly and consistently fall short of the mark.

Thank you to the ladies who started this group to reading our life manual and thank you God for leading me in this direction. Although I may have nothing of value to say or share about your word, you know that it is "a light unto my feet and a lamp unto my path". (Can y'all hear Amy Grant singing right now??? Yikes! I might be aging myself here. I know my girls (11 & 13) know the song, but they have not a clue who Amy Grant is. Yet, I digress!)

Back to the scriptures: I love your laws, I love your precepts etc. etc. God, you are awesome! (Anyone who knows me WELL knows I do NOT speak like this) Why not? Because I am NOT in sync with my saviour. I do NOT know Him even remotely like He knows me. I am a mere sinner saved by grace.

Ugh, I'm so off in left field I'm scaring even me!

Bottom line is that I'm reading the scriptures daily now and may or may not have something to write on Fridays (or Saturdays, Sundays etc.) but please know that this is not a failed project. Nothing is truly a failure that has God's word at the centre.

Vacation's over!

Well, I am now an employed stiff again. I have taken the job with BMO Nesbitt Burns as an administrative assistant. I start my new job today. There will be some adjusting to do (like getting dressed in the morning), but I am happy to be back to work. I did not have rent money for next month. It would appear that I will now.

Praise God for His perfect timing!

New Tribes Mission

Yesterday I invited a missionary couple with their children for lunch after church. They were in Venezuela and are awaiting confirmation of their deployment to Papua New Guinea. The mission they are involved in it called New Tribes Mission (NTM). This group's mission is to reach the many tribes of the world that are not being reached with the gospel at all. This means they have to learn the language of the tribe, transcribe the scriptures into the tribal language, and teach. This can, apparently, take up to 20 years to do with any single tribe. There are still over 3,000 tribes who are not being reached with the gospel. What a huge mission field!

BRF - Ephesians

Oh my goodness! Where do I start? I think we should have split this week into chapters 1 - 3 and then 4 - 6 next week. There's just soooooo much here. I will just share a bit from each chapter. The best thing about the scriptures is that there is nothing that isn't important and nothing that doesn't apply to us.

Chapter 1:13 - 14 says "Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession". Again here is talk of a seal. What a wonderful promise this is that we have been marked upon our belief. I love the guarantee. It's not a 1 year or 3 year guarantee, but it is a lifetime guarantee. What an awesome God!

Chapter 2:10 reminds me that although I may not like myself much a lot of the time, God chose to make me as He did. I am His workmanship. He makes no mistakes.

2:11 - 22 describes the new covenant with Christ. During the time prior to Jesus' entry and departure the Jews and Gentiles were quite separate. The cross ended this division. These verses describe peace to you who were far away and peace to you who are near. We are united and all can have peace through the cross.

2:22 describes us as a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. I know that much of my behaviour is not at all God-honouring. I must remember that the Holy Spirit dwells in me at all times, even when I'm gossiping, slandering, self-focused etc. I need to clean up the dwelling place of my heart.

3:13 "I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory." I'm not quite sure about this one. It sounds like a statement that would be made to God, but not to other men.

I love the benediction at the end of chapter 3. The statement that He can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine is very strong. I cannot imagine what God can do. I know He has made many promises, but my juvenille human mind cannot fathom the full potential. Imagine if we could live life to the fullest! What would this world be like? It sort of reminds me of all the environmental talk of late. We didn't start trying to clean up our act when Kyoto was enacted because it would cost too much and we couldn't do enough because the US wasn't going to participate. If we had done this when it was enacted we would most certainly be seeing results now. It's harder to act upon now, however, because things are worse. I don't want to delay results for God. It's so much more important in the grand scheme of things. Lives are at stake.

4:29 jumps out at me because I am guilty guilty guilty!! Unwholesome talk is just so easy to engage in. I can change this, but I choose not to. This doesn't only take place outside the church but it may even be more commonplace in the church. Think of how many times we have judged another brother or sister and have verbalized it to another church member or worse yet, to someone outside the church. We must choose our words wisely to build one another up. It reminds me of the old saying about not putting your mouth in motion before putting your mind in gear. I MUST start thinking before speaking.

Chapter 5 is getting even heavier. Sexual impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk, coarse talk etc. are all being compared to idolatry. These things are NOT God-ordained. I worship God and yet I also worship idols according to this. Yet another area of duality in my life.

Hmmmmm, seeing a pattern here? Yep, we must focus on God. There are no acceptable alternatives when we have chosen to live our lives for Him. He lived here as a perfect example of the life we should live. I'm so not even close.

Chapter 6 lists the items we need to do battle for Christ. Battle? But we're supposed to have it easy once we commit to Christ aren't we? C'mon now God, I am supposed to have eternal peace now. AS IF! We are in the battles of our lives once we commit to joining God's army. He gives us everything we need to fight the battle. We do not need to go out there unprepared . . . but we do! I think back to last week and my realization that I'd never read Haggai. Why not? It's another piece of the equipment God has given me and yet I don't pick up my sword for battle. The enemy is fully equipped as well and not stupid. I am stupid. God picked me, however, a sinful stupid moron to battle for Him. He makes no mistakes, so I have to believe that I can help to win the battle.

Geez my thoughts are disorganized. I am so NOT a writer. If you got to the end of this, I'm impressed!

Exchange email scanning servers

Okay, so this is a little crazy! I sent an email to a certain tuba-playing friend of mine and was quite disturbed by the fact that he didn't respond to me. I thought, "Hey, guess he's a little overwhelmed by me and yet he can't seem to tell me this".

So, earlier tonight I was looking at my sent emails and wondering why I don't have them set up to automatically delete. While scrolling through I accidentally red flagged one. I decided to look at it (in case I had red flagged it previously for a reason . . . AS IF!) and I discovered that the content of the email wasn't there and that my server did not allow the email to be delivered. It says "REASON::= RACIAL DISCRIMINATION".

For the life of me I couldn't understand what, exactly, I said in that email that might constitute racial discrimination and then I realized I had used the term "redneck". Last I knew that wasn't a race. It's almost as bad as the site I tried to set up a log in for a few years ago that wouldn't let me use ajewell (my first initial and last name) because it contained the word "jew" in it. We're getting just a wee bit over-sensitive here, aren't we????

Sheesh! Next thing you know I won't be able to use tuba-player slurs in public either.

BTW, I did apologize to said low brass player for my negative thoughts about him. Of course, I only apologized for the thoughts relating to his lack of reply to my email and not my general negative thoughts about a trumpet player wannabe.

Book Review Fridays - Haggai

Okay, so I'm going to join a growing blogging group of women who are reading a book of the bible weekly and then reviewing on Friday. I think for the most part I am not going to be sharing any great wisdom, but I'll share what God lays on my heart.

First of all I have to say that I don't know that I've ever really read Haggai. I'm a self-proclaimed lazy scripture reader. Maybe this BRF will help me to get to know the scriptures better.

Anyhow, I loved Haggai. Short, simple and to the point. I really felt that the overall message of this book was directed right at me and it was saying "If God isn't the focus of your life, you will not have a full life". Imagine that!

I love how in 1:5 it says "Give careful thought to your ways", in 1:6 he spells out how foolish we are and then repeats in 1:7 "Give careful thought to your ways". It's like talking to a child when we give them a list of duties and then repeat them to be sure they were listening. Sadly, God has to repeat Himself over and over for me and yet I just don't seem to retain.

In 2:12 - 13 it says "If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, oil or other food, does it become consecrated?' " The priests answered, "No." Then Haggai said, "If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?" "Yes," the priests replied, "it becomes defiled." This is a big one for me. I have a computer addiction, television, and friends who are far from wholesome. It says to me that I will become unclean by my affiliations as opposed to the affiliations becoming clean. Of course, I know this doesn't mean to completely put away those that are unclean (as Jesus, Himself, most certainly did not), but it means to keep yourself pure and clean. This, for me, means a constant reminding of the relationship I have with Christ so that I may not stumble and fall away from Him.

Overall there is a theme in this book that if we do not focus on God then we will not reap full rewards. Hey, ain't that the truth! What a great book Haggai is to return our focus to the One who created us and who sacrificed so greatly on our behalf. If we keep our eyes focused heavenward, then we will be fully blessed with His riches.

Grrrr

I just wrote a long and clever post only to have it disappear on me. Now I'm going to have to try to remember all of that wisdom to rewrite.

Hmmmm . . .

Oh yeah, I have another job prospect. The person who had offered me employment previously passed my resume along to another employer while I was away on vacation. I interviewed two weeks ago and had a call back late last Friday (testing my lack of patience) to say they would like to further pursue hiring me. I am meeting with them again today. Praise God for his timing!

I have been continuing my weight loss battle and so far I am winning. I'm officially down 46 lbs now. I bought a new pair of jeans a couple weeks ago and was feeling particularly good, so Bex took a couple photos.

Church has been wonderful! I have been singing in the praise group weekly. It seems I am the only soprano in the bunch (there are at least six altos!!). I am getting this week off, though. The timing is perfect as Luke, Jenn and I are hosting some University students for lunch after church. I'm really looking forward to getting to know some of them a bit better.

I have been going to the women's bible study on Thursday nights while the girls are at Reach. It's been a good fit as the girls love their program which starts right after school and both end at 8:00.

Last week I got to play trumpet for the Prime Time group. They are such a wonderful group of people. I was honoured to have been given the opportunity to perform for them. It didn't hurt that they fed me a lovely lunch either.

In my spare time (when???) I've been running the girls to soccer practices. Right now they have practices as follows:

Sunday 4:00 - 5:30 - Bex in Waterloo

Monday 6:00 - 8:00 - Shannon in Guelph

Wednesday 8:30 - 10:00 - Both girls in Guelph

Friday 6:00 - 7:30 - Shannon in Waterloo

There have also been a few Tuesday night Waterloo scrimmages for Bex and there are a few Saturday morning practices in the near future for Shannon.

So, there's the monthly update on me and my life (or lack thereof).

Monster Truck Safari

On Tuesday of last week I got to go on a Monster Truck Safari from Higuey into the country side. It was wonderful to see the beauty of the Dominican, but terribly depressing to see the poverty. The trucks we were in are like this. We had a police escort with us throughout the trip, thankfully.

The company that runs the excursions uses the money from the tourism to open schools to educate the impovrished.



The truck would stop every so often to offer us
tourists beverages and the occasional photo
opportunity. The first time we stopped we had
some visitors hoping to get candy or money.

What a cute group. We had MANY more visitors
along the road, however.








As we stopped in this area where many locals and escaped Haitians work in the sugar cane fields we had a throng come begging. This was the last stop on the tour and I knew that it must be the visit to the witch doctor. Being a Christian I was not looking forward to this part of the trip and so I stayed on the truck with the security guard and the driver. I was so overwhelmed by the faces and the desperation that I was a sobbing mess. I had no money with me at all and no food. All I could offer was my hat.

This woman gladly accepted my hat and did her
best to get me to stop crying. I managed to
eventually, but I pray that my heart will not
stop crying when faced with the pleas of those
who are less fortunate than I am.

This has had a great impact on me. I pray that
it will not just be something I've experienced and
seen, but that it will continue to dwell in me. My
intention is to live a simpler life. We are so very blessed to live in this country.

May we truly be mindful of the needs of others!

Feliz Ano Nuevo

I'm baaack! What a week in the Dominican it was. It had many high and low points which I will try to share over a few posts. At the moment I just want to tell about the first real high for me there. The resort had a New Year's Eve show including a band, dancers, magician etc. It was quite a fun evening. The band was hot . . . particularly that trumpet player!!



What a thrill to have had this opportunity. It's amazing what you'll do in a place where nobody knows you! Improv's never really been my thing, but I nailed it and had chops galore. I've been offered the spare room of the percussionist if I should choose to move there. Of course, my fiancé Fernando might object. He's the lead singer who proposed to me that night.

More to follow . . . with more proposals!!