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Showing posts from March, 2011

Called By Our Name

In speaking with some new parents, I asked if they knew the meaning of their son's name. No, not yet. With each of the babies I witness come into the world, I prepare a birth story just for them. At the beginning of their story, I add the meaning of the chosen names. Our names and their meanings hold power, for better or worse. I have noticed that each of my children's names seem to fit them well- who knew? God calls us by a name He has chosen for us, one He only knows, deep in our spirits. He knows us most intimately, most deeply and most personally, because he created us. We are called by a name by He Who loves us most. Choosing a name for our children is a privilege. Whether the name means Wise One or Pure, Youthful or Virtuous, Poet or Angel, Lightbearer, Beloved, Peaceful or any other trait, we can be grateful. We can watch them grow, teaching them to know deeply that we have called them by their name and know them intimately because they were created from us. This myst

Mindfulness

Challenged to think about how behaviour of others affects us daily, we spent time with a behavioural specialist today. Great insight, exhausting work! We look forward to doors being unlocked for the one we love, as we continue on the road to adulthood. Challenged to think. Challenged. Reminded too about my own Nana as I sang to my grandson today. We sang Skinny Marinky Dinkydink (several times) much to his delight and my own! Building traditions, memories in the deep places. Behaviours that come out when that which we know deeply is challenged. Behaviours that are challenged by the life we live, by daily expectations. Challenges to the way we think, the things we know. How do we know we are loved? Where does our knowing come from? What makes us sure of what we believe? Teaching our children at a very young age what love is, security and unconditional love, we set the bar for when they are entering into life relationships, getting married and having children of their own. It all happen

Monday's Gifts

Though it is now overcast, the day started with absolute brightness. A call from a friend, lasting a long time over coffee and fixing the world. Thoughts of creativity and how it is lived out. God is our Creator--what an awesome job! ~ long distance phone plans ~a drive in our beautiful region, looking at ice carved by flowing deep green water underneath ~squinting in the sunlight ~friendships spanning decades ~shared passions--not just babies!! breads, sewing, creativity flowing ~emails from my man ~weddings to plan for, celebrations of love, dressing up pretty ~music-the choices I have for listening, thought-provoking and inspiring ~crockpot food--the smell of sweet and sour pork assaulting me when I get home ~groceries- a fridge, clean and waiting, for the colours and flavours and crunch and snap of fresh fruits and vegetables and milk ~a quiet home in anticipation of the 12 year old, first day back after Spring Break ~a quiet home in anticipation of my grandson coming h

Sunny Disposition

Today's post deserves some colour- the sunshine warms us gloriously! "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee"~ Reminded of my Nana's lovely rich voice, singing this tune beside me as a very little girl. The hymn choices today were all wonderful old hymns, classics. Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father! All through my journey with cancer, my Dad would remind me, Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow! A wonderful reminder of God's faithfulness in our difficulties. He is holy, set apart and we are so unworthy- yet, He chooses to have a relationship with us. How cool is that? Now I am a Nana. Will my grandson remember these tunes someday when he is in middle age? Will he have learned the things of God at my knee? Will he desire a relationship with the Living God because he wants what I have? Will he take joy in creation because of the Creator? We have a lovely book that we read, one that talks about how t

Sunny Saturday

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy! We know spring has arrived--dandelions are starting to grow, robins are eating worms and the days are WARM! Nights are still cold, often below zero yet. Everyone feels more alive, happier and motivated. This morning, sheets washed and dried, laundry caught up and the 12 year old taking care of his duties, I played with some dirt, repotting one aloe vera into 3 pots. I realized that before long--just after Mothers' Day, to be exact- I will be playing in the dirt outside, planting annuals and brightening up our home. The snow is almost gone and the yard is throwing up items long lost and forgotten. Garbage and detritus that have been carted around by our favourite four legged creature is making its way to the surface, a blight to be cleared before the brown lawn turns green. The swing for our grandson will once again be mounted on the deck and his big toys will be played with, slides and climbing frames, cars to drive and deck to run on. He i

True and Trusted Friends

Spontaneous days, filled with friendship and laughter, trust and respect. A friend calls and makes an invitation to join her for the day and I accept. We drive and chat , chat and drink coffee, chat and shop for household items and groceries and building materials .   And the day is lovely, a special gift . We share children's successes and trials, talk about schooling and housing and dating and grandbabies and all that matters . Lunch goes by so quickly and yet it is a lingering time. Grocery shopping is fun and I am a sherpa, with no Everest in sight . Yet we mount our battles and share our struggles and our triumphs. Friendship takes investment, time and consideration. Friendship is not something that always comes easily, yet it is so worthwhile. The investment provides dividends for a lifetime. Some of my friendships span 30 years, some 20, some 10 and some just a few. Each is an investment of time and trust, of vulnerability and victories shared .       Eac

Sunny Monday

Spring has arrived here, along with it mud and robins. The robins are so delightful, playing in the mud, looking for morsels and playing tag. The mud gives me something to stay occupied with. Since our 12 year old left Saturday, I have washed all the woodwork in the house with Murphy's Oil. I love the smell of Murphy's and the shine it gives the wood. For those who know this house, wood is one of it's major components, so I have been busy! Spring has arrived with a vengeance in my head, so I am cleaning. Floors are washed, laundry is all caught up and folded and put away. Bathrooms are sparkling and odd jobs are irritating me, calling to be accomplished. One of those is the fridge. Today, the whole thing was taken apart, science experiments were completed- or thrown out- and now it is fresh and very clean inside, smelling of peppermint. I have plans to attack our basement including reorganizing the space under the stairs. I love the opportunity to have a quiet house in whic

Random Trains Of Thought

Today, I will borrow Holly's title from her blog  http://starlithome.blogspot.com . We put the 12 year old on the train to Prince Rupert today--a gift from his sister, the Chef. At Christmas, she gave him a Gift Certificate for a round trip train ticket, a few days at her house, including swimming, a movie, dinner out and plain old big sister time. What a GREAT gift! Getting ready for a trip that has been waiting for 3 months is tough- it takes a huge amount of patience on the part of the recipient! Today, he cleaned his room, prepared his luggage, took a skateboard and helmet and generally had a hurry up and wait kind of day as he waited for the train to leave at 3:37 this afternoon. Typical to our family, we arrived at the train about 15 minutes early to avoid surprises. We waited. We waited some more. My man went out calling, "Here kitty kitty" and brought in some pussy willows. We waited some more. The 12 year old played, splashed in puddles, found sticks to throw an

Brilliant!

The sun is so bright, sparkling in from the east this morning. The longer days, deeper angles tell me that Spring will be right on time. I am fairly sure some thought it would not be so--but sure enough, the world turns faithfully each day and rotates a little more toward the sun and all is well.  I have a lovely book that is for my grandchildren called "On The Day You Were Born". I recommend, love how it suggests that the whole world lies in waiting for this special event, birth! Not lies in waiting, actually, but continues to move toward that exact moment, that exact time of the miracle of birth. So lovely! My daughter-momma and her precious son are away for a few days, enjoying horses and dogs, river and mountains and serenity. She called last night to let me know he tucked her in and decided to go back and play with toys. "Lay down, good boy" to his mom. He is so funny! She was in stitches and had to share the hilarity!  On this lovely, sunny Friday, find t

Whiling Away Wednesday

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There have been no new posts for several days. This was pointed out by my man last night- and I started to think about what and about why! I have not been sitting here typing while my lovely girl has been home, rather wanting to spend that time with her. We had a lovely time together, wringing the most out of every minute. Our weekend was spent out in Prince Rupert with the little sister. Rain, lots of it, but time at the pool, at the bookstore and at the house made the time work out just fine. One thing, though--never enough! On our drive west, we noted the huge number of eagles and seagulls. Paired up with the high number of cars parked along the side of the Skeena, we decided the oolichans must be running. I wonder if this is a good year? This picture is from the oolichan camp in the Nass Valley last year. Our 12 year old loves these little candle fish- he brings enough home to smoke in our smoker. He gives a nice amount to his mom and takes them to school to share with his friends

Friday at Last?

I struggle with thinking about posting. I have had a tough week, which followed a tough week, so am just feeling kind of empty. The fact that I have developed a head cold probably complicates things a bit too. I find myself having to look at things with a critical eye and put words onto paper that are not my natural way of thinking and it is a tough chore. I am not speaking about this posting, but some other issues I am dealing with. Conflict seems to be surrounding us right now and it creates stress in our environment, that which we choose and work towards keeping peaceful. I am left questioning how we let the stress go. I am not typically one who holds on to stress or worry, they are not natural to me, so perhaps this is why I struggle with dealing with those very things in my life. Maybe I simply don't know what to do with them! My faith is strong and is a place of refuge and I am grateful for that. But there are times when i realize I am only human and can't dp it all, can&

This Week is Hustling By

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Ever notice that when you want time to hurry up, it goes by so slowly--and when you want to savour the moments, they fly by unbidden? It is so nice having my girl home. She is getting friend connections, seeing friend's growing babies, doing lunch, planning a shower, all the wonderful things that are the joy of being a woman! There are so many things in our life we take responsibility for, many tough ones- bathrooms, diapers, laundry- and many lovely ones- feeding others, planning celebrations, taking joy in new life- all these and so many others make up the joy of being a woman! Yesterday, I spent time pondering how we pass on our values, our passions. Mostly, I was thinking of childbirth and breastfeeding, but this does apply to so many other areas. Just because I value something highly does not presuppose that my daughters will feel the same. I have to be OK with that. As adults, our children do have the right and capability of making their own choices and being responsible for

A Continuing List of Gratitude

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Nice busy weekend, full of family, friends fellowship and food. All of my girls are home!! We celebrated by man's birthday a few days early. He was surprised by our youngest daughter and a turkey dinner. For someone to whom quality time speaks volumes, I would say I did well! We celebrated the birth of a good friend's daughter, gathering with women, laughter and food and lovely gifts. In the evening, my girls and I took pictures and laughed! We waited until my man went to bed, then used facial preparations given by a lovely friend for us to use together--we have not had an overnight together since I got sick last year! After a steam over delicious potpourri, we used a clay mask. All said and done, we felt clean and clear and so refreshed- even at 11:00 at night! We laughed and told stories, talked and just simply enjoyed each others company! In this frame of mind, my list of thankfulness continues: most of my family home love to share new babies and the blessing they a

Friday is Turning Out Fantastic!

The wind is subsiding. A lovely day started by a soak in a tub--not here at home, but still, a soak! Then home to make muffins. I made a yummy blueberry and banana muffin that has maple yogurt instead of milk in it- they smell fantastic and taste as good as they smell. For goodness, I added wheat germ and hemp nuts. Really yummy!! Coffee with a lovely friend, passionate discussion, sharing hopes and dreams, this is the stuff of life! I am so grateful to have people like her in my life to keep my challenged and honest with myself.  Right now, to top things off, I have--wait for it--WATER!! Running from my tap as I sit here! For the first time in 10 days! Yes, there are lots of exclamation marks--of course! This is simply wonderful! My lovely daughter is coming home tomorrow for the first time in 8 months. We are so excited--but the idea of having no water was just not exciting at all, so this is a good thing. The pump had been installed 26 years ago, so it certainly had done its work,

Peaceful Endings to Busy Days

One of those days. I think I am saying this more often, it is just one of those days. Today, we found out it is going to cost a huge amount of money to get our water up and running again. This is always disappointing, finding out you have to spend big money for ANYTHING unexpected. However, the well pump is also 26 years old, so it doesn't owe the world--or our family--much of anything at all. It's just that we have been trying like crazy to SAVE!! We want to go on our first big trip, my man and I. We have a dream to be in Ireland for my half-century birthday this summer--and we seem to get further behind on this dream as the days go by. *Sigh* But this was one of those days. A day where once again I am struck by the things that others teach me when I didn't know I had something to learn. A day where I am struck by the resiliency of the young parents I work with. A day where those I work with have so much to share that I am once again in awe. And I am grateful! When people

Windy Wednesday

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You can't get away from wind! It blows in cracks, lets you know just how drafty your house is! The fireplace has a hard time keeping up as the warm is sucked right out of the house. Days like today make me wish for a nice warm bath! But today, that is still not to be! While there is still a very cold front out there, it is not possible to bring the well pump to the surface! Any of those working parts can freeze in the cold, so that is the way things are. We will have a quiet evening, hunkered down at home. Homework and reading, quiet play and taking care of the little things that we need to. During this day, my lovely grandson and I had a nice long snuggle nap before he went to the arena to watch hockey. I am so blessed. So, I will try not to obsess over the lack of water, but to be thankful for what we Do have! A warm home, a wonderful family, books and places to enjoy them. I know the 12 year old is at a birthday party today, one of few he has ever gone to. He will be full of s

Tuesday--A Day at Home

Today, a day with my grandson, the light of our lives. My man brought home a yummy coffee at lunch time, a surprise visit that made my day! This afternoon, I had lots of snuggles, lots of play time and fun with my little chatterbox. He is so funny- and I LOVE emergent language! We took time this afternoon to watch some lovely music on you tube while we waited for bread to rise. He helped my with the bread--and watched as I chopped broccoli and cauliflower for Cheese and Trees soup. I think I will put the recipe below for one of our favourite cold day meals. And I do mean cold. It may only be -13 or -14 outside, but the wind is taking it down to -25 or so. This means our water still is not getting fixed! It has been one week and I am getting a bit tired of it! Oh well, I should be grateful that we do have lovely clean running water most of the time! So, here is the recipe: Cheese and Trees Soup 2 cups broccoli, chopped into small pieces 2 cups cauliflower, chopped into small pieces Pu