Grateful Heart and Helping Hands

Leaving in the afternoon, leaves aglow. Sun shining in a cloudy blue sky, covered up at times as a shower drips its way past. Afternoon gave way to evening and dinner plans with a lovely friend. Passions shared, great food eaten, on my way again. Dark now, the deer in the headlights was a very real incident! As I swerved, braked and used by horn, that stately buck hopped across the road after being frozen in place by my lights. Adrenalin pumping, the radio humming, thoughts made their way through my head, contemplating the love of Christ and how we share it. I know that the message of the gospel is one of peace, one of grace and that there is nothing we can do to earn it on our own. Witnessing a disturbing message on pickets near our high school had me thinking hard about my own response, how my own heart and spirit feel. One quick stop for a thank you gift and I was well on my way to visit my lovely niece and her family. Her new daughter, a birth shared, strength and purpose and excit...

Like my new picture? It's our latest, with our matching Aran knit sweaters. I sure love this kid. Apparently, I love him bunches and tonnes, but his mommy loves him to the moon and back and as many as the stars. He reminds us all the time! We have been taking pictures to update Auntie's information and files. I am driving all the way to meet my bride-to-be, to shop for her wedding dress. We will share dreams and desires, wondering what their day will be like. We will drive and chat, we will eat and chat, we will visit to our hearts content! While I am away, I will also have a chance to look up friends and take some time just for me. It is beginning to feel as if Ireland was a very long time ago. Many years back, I realized that if I could take some time for me once every 3 or 4 months, it refreshed me and gave me a while new attitude. So, the excitement builds! Dreaming of weddings takes me back. We have spent 30 years together. Our wedding day was December 3 1983. That means...

The day has begun as a cloudy and quiet late Fall day. The mountain is shrouded, snow low on it's shoulders. Fog is lifting, but hanging near by, making driving across the one-way bridge a challenge no one wants on a Monday morning. My day has been centred around my lovely grandson, making breakfast together, blowing up balloons, lining up horses and telling stories to one another. I enjoy our conversations, my young grandson and I. Everything is a negotiation, teaching him critical thinking skills. Questions are posed to help him decide what is important to him, ostensibly to defuse any tantrums over what is right or not. "Would you like cheerios or rice krispies?" "Would you like your red T-shirt or your green one?" It works so nicely, to give him some autonomy and empowerment. These words have had me thinking since a discussion a week ago. A wonderful midwife friend told me what she thinks I should teach in Birthing Classes is autonomy and empowerment. Not ...

We all speak in a language that is known best to us and our closest friends. If someone loves us, such as a husband or wife, they undoubtedly know us best and can speak a language to us that reflects that knowledge and wisdom. Many years ago now, Gary Chapman wrote the book " The Five Love Languages " and I think this knowledge of others, this 'inside scoop' has changed so many of my relationships. For instance, I know my husband's first or top language is Quality Time. I am speaking his language clearly when I sit down beside him with a cup of tea, ready to listen, ready to spend time with him at the centre of my world. He knows me best when he performs an Act of Service--speaking loudly to me through his actions rather than words. Very close to the top of both of our lists is Words of Encouragement. If we have an argument, both of us need to be very careful with how we choose our words. When we are just doing day to day things, we both find that being encouraged...

Five days since my last posting. My man asked me this morning why I have not posted, what's wrong? It has been a busy week that culminated in a journey--the journey to motherhood for an amazing woman who has joined in this 'hood. And what a remarkable journey it was and still is!! In fact it is just beginning, so I know there will be so much to experience along the way. What a beautiful family, enlarged by God's gracious blessing. Once again, I feel humbled to have been part of this journey, one who walks alongside, encouraging. ‎"Worship is a journey. As we press in closer to God, we see more of who He is" - Ben I understand, more clearly with each birth I attend, that the very act of giving birth is an act of worship. We are worshiping the Master Designer, Creator of all good things. I understand more clearly the concept of being knitted together, of being created in minute detail, every bit of who we are. I can't help but give thanks to a God Who would c...

Crispy stuffed pork roast. Roasted potatoes nestled in beside it. Baby cauliflowers, steamed then smothered in cheese sauce. Caesar salad shared. Red wine, white wine, rhubarb crisp, plum cake. Vanilla ice cream, whipped cream. Meals with friends. This week started out with a shared meal, one of the feast of thankfulness. The week has been somewhat of an ongoing theme in that way. From our turkey on Monday came the ingredients for today's potluck. We sent meals on with our mushroom picker men. Our social lives are just so much more encouraged over a meal shared. "Better a meal of vegetables where there is love, than a fattened calf with hatred" This proverb used to hang over our table when our kids were little. I think of it often. When we have friends to share our meal with, so much the better. Family sharing a meal with others, this is the stuff of life. I love to cook for people, to feed people. And I know, it is not just the body fed, but the spirit as well, when t...

So beautiful, Fall. Autumn has made it's powerful way into the landscape, the colours breathtaking, snow on the mountains stunning and warm soups and stews becoming our family staple. Mushroom picking is grinding to a halt, but this year was one of the best in the last two decades. This season drives us back indoors, more often choosing a nap over a walk. We have reinstated the status of our duvet on the bed, instituted our wool sweaters and long pants. And I, even I, am wearing shoes not sandals. Well, sometimes. Today, there is a bubbling pot of homemade soup, rich in legumes, kale and carrots and warm flavours. This will be my second pot of soup this week, an unusual occurrence. There are pumpkin tarts on the counter and a delicious loaf of whole grain bread on the counter, soft and tasty, to eat with the soup. All day, the slow preparations for our Feast of Thankfulness have been at the forefront of my energies. The beets are being precooked, so I can peel and store them read...

I am not sure I like the new layout of my blog--and I welcome any and all comments on it. But I also thought it could use a bit of an update, so let me know! My man has been working hard. He works hard every day to provide well for his family. Lately, he has also taken on a project he loves, mushroom picking. This means he leaves here after school Friday or VERY early Saturday morning and returns home Sunday evening. We have been blessed by his hard work and I am really grateful for his provision for our home. So, today, my Grateful for Gifts focus will be around this home: ~ warm fire burning ~an abundance of food, both natural, like grouse, and store-bought, like milk and cheese ~a beautiful view, breath-taking at times ~a quiet place, one that stimulates conversation and friendship, warmth and caring ~open doors, always room for one more ~new family to add to our eclectic mix ~my husband, 30 years of relationship, knowing each other most deeply, hard worker, awesome provider...

For the director of music. A psalm of David. The heaven's declare   1  (click here to listen to this Psalm set to music)  the glory of God;    the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2  Day after day they pour forth speech;    night after night they reveal knowledge. 3  They have no speech, they use no words;    no sound is heard from them. 4  Yet their voice [ b ]  goes out into all the earth,    their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.   5  It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,    like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6  It rises at one end of the heavens    and makes its circuit to the other;    nothing is deprived of its warmth.   7  The law of the LORD is perfect,    refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LOR...

We have decided to downsize. We have less kids at home. Well, until tomorrow, when one more comes back home. Then again, there is the other that comes back on Wednesday too, with friends. I am glad that when I choose to downsize, that it has not yet hit my grocery shopping. or my meal making. With the choice to downsize comes the conscious choice to look at how we spend money, how we use what has been given to us. We decided that one thing would be to use less fuel, use cheaper fuel and to make smaller car payments. This is what we decided to replace my vehicle with: A small sedan, sensible yet sporty. I think I am not yet ready to be truly grown up. I do have to say, my man is equally pleased. Neither of us were comfortable anymore in my old car. It was hard on our aging hips--and for the man who has serious back troubles, it hurt to sit in the seat for any length of time. So, we have downsized. Thinking of this, wondering how it applies to all of my decisions, it makes me mindful...