Thirteen Things I want to do more if I ever get the time...

1. Scrapbook
2. Play piano
3. Sew
4. Go out with my husband
5. Travel
6. Read
7. Finish my ministry education
8. Paint our front door
9. Reorganize the computer room
10. Redecorate the spare room downstairs
11. Be more consistent about practicing the tin whistle
12. Write out the rest of my favourite recipes that I've altered in my recipe organizer
13. Write a book

Credit for the beautiful banner above goes to Denise

Leave your link in comments; I’ll add you here!
* TNChick * Kimmy * Wystful * Katherine * Lauren * Yellow Rose * Pink Chihuahua * Karin * Amanda * Musical Mom * Susan * Caryn * Courtney * Tanya * Melanie * Natalie * Leesa * Matt * Emily * Skittles *

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Is It OK If I Rant Here?!

I can't really speak about the details here as it wouldn't be appropriate, but can I ask you this...why is it that some people (usually men) cannot understand that age can be a sensitive subject for some people (usually women)? (And that as a result, it is usually best to NEVER ask a woman her age!)

Now, for the most part, I think I'm usually at ease with my own age, but I know that that isn't always the case for everyone at every season in their lives, and I know there have been times when I have been sensitive...like, for example, when I turned 30 and was not married yet. Somehow I had always thought I would have been married by when I turned that magical number, but ce la vive, God had other plans for me... But still, having lived a few years as a single woman over 25 and then over 30 in the Church, I know that that is not an easy place to be, so I am especially sensitive to others in that place. Recently though, I could not make a man I know understand this fact when he was pressing about someone else's age, and in the aftermath of it, he actually said something that made me uncomfortable about my own age too...well, not my own age actually...he was talking about the age of a friend of mine, and I'm actually quite a bit younger than her, but I felt my own sensitivity rise when he lumped me into that catgory...you see, my friend will be turning 40 this year. Now I know that age is only a number, and that 40 isn't a bad number at that...they even say that 40 is the new 30, but I'm not ready to be it yet, so I didn't want this fella rushing me. My husband tells me that I barely look 30, but he's probably a bit biased, but the real reason behind my sensitivity on this one has something in common with what I felt when I was approaching 30... You see, we are hoping to conceive...and each year closer to 40 decreases the chances of that statistically, and so, I'm in NO hurry to do that. So please just give me my couple more years and try not to rush me because just as surely as it isn't easy for a for a single woman over 25 or 30, it isn't easy for a hopeful mom over 35.

OK, rant over. Please tell me I'm not crazy, because I surely could not get my point across to the fella I mentioned above!

Who Am I? ...and Great are YOU!

Well something awful happened at work at the end of last week and though I've tried to pray through it and let it go, I'm still reliving it and it is now Monday morning, and I don't want to go to work even though the person involved should long be gone. I'm praying for God's protection because of the sting of this person's words, and at the same time I'm praying for God's best for them and trying to forgive what happened. It's not easy living life 'downhere'.

One particularly bright spot to this past weekend was learning a new song though. Here are the words I'm thinking about this morning...

Great Are You
by Downhere

How I love Your works
My God, My King
How I love Your works
My God, My King

Your Name rings on the plains
Like a not so distant train
And Love and history are near
In the flowers that you make
The flowers that you make

CHORUS

Because I'll never hold the picture
Of the whole horizon in my view
Because I'll never rip the night in two
It makes me wonder
Who am I, Who am I, Who am I
And great are you

How I love Your Word
My God, My King
How I love Your Word
My God, My King

Your love cuts through these pages to my heart
As you grieve our sins, right from the start
And sacrifice and paradise are in
The plans that you made, The plans that you made
Chorus (2x)

Thirteen Places I've Never Been that I Would Like to Go To

1. Paris in the springtime - I've dreamt about this since I was a young girl. I imagine sipping cappucinos at a sidewalk cafe, strolling over bridges in the mist, driving along the country side, visiting museums....

2. Ireland - my husband says that we will eventually honeymoon there...and even spend a night or two in a castle!

3. Nashville Tennessee - it's the home of many kinds of music, and my husband would add.. it's the home of the Gibson guitar factory.

4. The Maritimes - I've wanted to visit PEI ever since I first read Anne of Green Gables as a girl. I imagine visiting pubs, great music and dancing...and seafood!

5. Norway (or Switzerland or Sweden) - it just looked SO picturesque when the Winter Olympics were there.

6. Canmore, Alberta - I've heard it is just so pretty.

7. Orchards and wine country in B.C. - a sample of Icewine along the way sounds good to me:)

8. Scotland - my maternal grandmother's family was from there (and was somehow related the Queen mum even!)

9. England - my maternal grandad's family was from there.

10. Austria - my paternal grandparents were from there.

11. Quebec - if I can't get to France...maybe the Canadian version will do?!

12. Florence - it sounds romantic, doesn't it?!

13. The delivery room.

Credit for the banner goes to Novelist in Training

Leave your link in comments; I’ll add you here!
* Susie * Undercover Angel * TN Chick* Dawn * Lauren * Lady * Ardice * Leesa * Kelly * Kimmy * Daisy * Matt *

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Book Recommendations, Please

I'm looking for the next book I'm going to read... I've been kind of caught up in Brennan Manning of late and am re-reading his book, Ruthless Trust. There are some passages in the first chapter that I just can't get past... He is describing his experience as a child and it's so much like a mirror for me...feelings I've worked through and gotten past before and even some that I guess I've never acknowledged... they are there so fresh everytime I read it. Manning's premise in writing the book is this:

"The splendor of a human heart that trusts that it is loved unconditionally gives God more pleasure than Westminster Cathedral, the Sistine Chapel, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Van Gogh's Sunflowers, the sight of 10,000 butterflies in flight, or the scent of a million orchids in bloom. Trust is our gift back to God, and he finds it so enchanting that Jesus died for love of it."

All through the book Manning keeps reminding that God loves us as we ARE not as we should be. It's a good book.

Tonight Amanda and I are meeting my friend Caroline at McNally for a visit and some browsing. I think I'm going to look for the next book I'm going to devour. Do you have any suggestions?

Love and Fear

Last night Les and I caught most of the movie First Knight which was on TV. In one of the scenes King Arthur says to Lancelot, "A man who fears nothing is a man who loves nothing, and if that is so, then what joy is there in your life?"

I agree that without love in our lives there would be no joy, but I'm not so sure what I think about the link between fear and love?

The Bible says that "Perfect love casts out fear." (1 John 4:18) And yet it also says that we are not only to love God, but to fear him... ("The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." Ps 111:10) Possibly it's a matter of symantics and usage of words. What do you think?

Happy St. Patty's Day All!

The Irish Stew is in the Crockpot and the green parfaits are in the fridge, and when Les gets home from work I'm making Irish Cream Mocha's for us to enjoy! How are you celebrating St. Patty's Day?

Oh, and in honour of the day, I took this test...What Colour Green are YOU?

You Are Teal Green

You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you. Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible. While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks. Your warm personality nicely counteracts and strange habits you may have.

What Color Green Are You?

Blessed

We've been studying the Be-attitudes in our small group. Each of them start with the word 'blessed'... "blessed are you when..." Back in high school I was taught to interpret that word 'blessed' to mean 'happy'...as in, "happy are you when..." However, in my own reading of the Be-attitudes, I still don't see how those 'blesseds' can be interpreted as 'happy' necessarily...

Happy are you when you are poor in spirit?
Happy are you when you mourn?
Happy are you when you are persecuted?

Hmmm... I just don't think so! Those things are unlikely to make me FEEL happy... And so I've been learning that those 'blesseds' really have nothing to do with how I feel...in fact, they aren't about MY perceptions, feelings or situations at all really...they are about how God views me.

I've heard a Pastor at our church preach that those 'blesseds' are more akin to saying something like "congratulations, you lucky bum!"

Congratulations when you are poor in spirit
Congratulations when you mourn ...etc.

Why be congratulated? Because you are living in the kingdom of God...and the kingdom of the world is upside down... when you realize things like the fact that you are poor in spirit (spiritually bankrupt except for the love and grace of God), then you are finally flying right side up...congratulations, you lucky bum!

I like to interpret those 'blesseds' a little different from that though even. So much of my life has been spent seeking the approval of others...wanting to please them, sometimes with honourable motives (and sometimes with selfish ones), so when I read those 'blesseds' I read them something like this:

You are approved by God when you realize that you are poor in spirit.
You are approved by God when you mourn that this world and life is not as it should be
You are approved by God when you are meek and let God be God ....etc.

It has nothing to do with how I FEEL, but rather realizing how God FEELS about me, and that, my friends, makes all the difference!

We just got back from our daughter's school assembly, where Amanda received the Honour Roll for the second year in a row! In honour of this very bright and hard working girl that God gave us, I give you...

THIRTEEN THINGS ABOUT MY DAUGHTER

1. My nickname for her is DOLLY because I've always had a thing for dolls (rag dolls in particular) and she is just a LIVING DOLL.

2. She just turned 11 years old and is in grade 5.

3. She's already 5 feet tall (almost as tall as me! ...she takes after my hubby who's 6'4")

4. She's involved in worship dance and is beautiful to watch!

5. She's also involved in choir and loves to sing.

6. She loves to read and is currently in the middle of the complete Chronicles of Narnia!

7. She's very loving and often surprises me with sweet little notes/cards/pictures to remind me of her love:)

8. Her favourite colour is pink, and she loves all things girly!

9. She doesn't like boys at all ;) ...well Rex Goudie is kinda cute...she's been playing his cd a lot lately.

10. She loves Hilary Duff and we have a standing date to go to all of her movies!

11. She just got her ears pierced and has been very responsible about cleaning them!

12. She's got all kinds of cool friends and she is a very good friend to them!

13. She has the funkiest pink/purple/turquois room ever complete with furry rug, a plethora of throw pillows and a mega sized bean-bag chair! ...and it all suits her so well! :)

Credit for the banner goes to Novelist in Training

Leave your link in comments; I’ll add you here!

* Carmen * Denise * TNChick * Dawn * Kelly * Daisy * Nancy * Leesa * Chickadee *

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Back to BE-ing

This is a recurrent theme if you know me...that we are human BE-ings not human DO-ings...and the resulting thoughts of where our value comes from... Today I ran across a most excellent quote from Thomas Merton that spoke to this well:

"We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being. As a result, men are valued not for what they are but for what they do or what they have-for their usefulness."

Baby, Baby

I heard from my friend Lynn, in Chicago today! She's going to have a baby in July (which I've known about for a while and been praying about!) and will be coming here for a visit at the end of April!! These are very exciting times for Lynn and her husband, and I'm living a bit vicariously through her experience. Today I learned that they think that the baby is a girl based on the ultrasound...so I'm going to be auntie again to a niece! Lynn's going to be a great mom...her child will be so loved...of this I am sure!

It seems to be a time for babies...we recently found out that a couple in our small group is also expecting! Babies are such a sweet blessing!

Thirteen (er, um, I mean Three) Things that made me laugh this week...

...sorry for the short list today folks...things have been spinning too fast of late! Back to the list though...things that have made me laugh this week:

1. Mr. Clean - no, I don't mean the white haired fella from the cleaning commercials...Mr. Clean is our affectionate nickname for our neighbour across the street who is meticulous about how he keeps things! Mr. Clean is actually a very good kind of neighbour to have, but this week he had us all scratching our heads... You see, earlier this week we got another BIG dump of snow, so it was no surprise to see him out with his snow-blower, shovel and ice pick that night. He always clears his driveway right down to the pavement, but when I came home from work the next day to see him out there with a pail and mop washing his drive-way, I about split a gut. Now, if you're not from around here, you need to realize that we have snowbanks that are taller than me in our front yard right now and that on the particular day in question it had warmed up a bit and so there was a bit of snow melt that had melted onto the streets which had been sanded by the city to help make them less icy, so when I got home it was impossible to even drive without spraying up a bit of muck with your tires...you know, the sort of day when it is impossible to even keep your car clean...and here I turn the corner and there is Mr. Clean out mopping his drive-way?! Quite a picture:) ...and did I mention, it snowed again later that night?!

2. This morning my husband, who has the day off, entered the kitchen for breakfast with a pair of sweats and a t-shirt on...which was not unusual morning attire on a day where he plans to do a workout; however, having his shirt tucked into the sweats and the sweats pulled up quite high on his waist was. When I commented on his most-fetching outfit, he commented that he was inspired by seeing Barishnakov on TV with me the other night...and then he proceeded to balletically leap around the kitchen:)

3. Lately there have been several times when I have come to work and someone is in my parking spot. My name is supposed to be on my parking spot to reduce the chance of this, but my employer hasn't gotten around to this yet... Well, anyway, yesterday I couldn't find any alternate parking in our lot, so I had to go out to the street and basically park on a snowbank. I was very careful when parking to make sure I would later be able to get out of the spot without getting stuck and I parked in a spot where no one could park behind me because of a driveway. However, at the end of the day when I went to leave work, someone HAD parked behind me, and I ended up getting stuck trying to pull out of the snowbank. At supper, I expressed my frustration to my husband who came up with a very practical solution... I need a pilon?! Yes, that's right, my very own pilon! Then, when I leave my parking spot at work, I need to place this pilon in my spot thus ensuring that people know this spot is reserved for me. Les even suggested that in addition to my name that the pilon specify my degree, designation, title and other pertinent information so people KNOW not to mess with my spot! Too cute:)

So since this list only contains 3...why don't you fill in the other 10...leave me a comment about something that made YOU laugh this week!

Oh, and credit for the banner above goes to Denise...isn't it lovely?! :)

If you leave me a comment, I'll link you below:

(list of other TT's)

Dawn

Denise

Yellow Rose

Chickadee

A Tribute to June Carter Cash

So we watched some of the Oscars last night, and I was pleased when Reese Witherspoon won for best actress (if you haven't seen Walk the Line, I'd strongly recommend it). In her acceptance speech, Reese paid tribute to June Carter Cash by saying, she was “a real woman who has dignity and honor and fear and courage...People used to ask June how she was doing, and she would say, 'I'm just trying to matter'. I know what she means." -- I know what she means too!

Since seeing the movie at New Year's, I've done a little bit of research into June's life and I just really admire that woman...and many of the things she's been quoted as saying ring true with me (like the quote about mattering above). I've read that her step-daughter Roseanne Cash once said that "if marriage were a corporation, then June would be the CEO." I guess that's the biggest thing that sticks out to me about June is about how she lived out her love of her husband. Here are a few more quotes from June:

I chose to be Mrs. Johnny Cash in my life. I decided I'd allow him to be
Moses and I'd be Moses' brother Aaron, picking his arms up and padding along
behind him.

I stayed in submission to my husband, and he allowed me to do anything I
wanted to. I felt like I was lucky to have that kind of romance.

I was never looking back in regret. I never thought, Oh, why didn't I
become an actress? or Why did I just go paddling along after John? I've always
walked along right by his side, and he's always supported everything I do.

I worked with John, but I had enough sense to walk just a little ways
behind him. I could have made more records, but I wanted to have a marriage.

Today I learned some sad-sad news about a co-worker of mine. His wife, who was his world, passed away. Please join me in praying for him and their two small children in the days ahead. There are no words for times like these. Father, hold them, carry them... Thirteen Things I'm Thankful For... 1. God's love, grace and mercy. That He thinks about me at all and that He listens when I (we) pray.2. The husband God gave me...the man that he is, his love...I could not ask for more. He is the best part of me.3. My living doll of a daughter, so darling.4. The friends God has put in my life who have been there for me, always encouraging and praying.5. Our extended family...that we can live in the same city and see each other regularly...and that our daughter has both sets of grandparents around loving her (even if it borders on spoiling some days;)6. That I can work...even though there are days where it's a struggle to do what I do...it's a blessing that I can work and that God has enabled me to have a 60% time job.7. My health, my husband's health and my daughter's...something to never take for granted.8. Creation's call (whether it be the blanket of snow that fell this week and how it twinkles or the living sky around me..."endless blue horizon's frame")9. Music in me and around me...whether it be my husband strumming the guitar or my heart singing, I'm thankful that God gave us song.10. Our home...that there is a place that is more than four walls and a ceiling where we can build a house of love.11. Hugs and kisses...and more of the same.12. That I have a soft place to fall when I need it.13. That I get to share some time with my hubby at Starbucks tonight while my daughter dances. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! Daisy, Denise, Dawn Leesa (I love that spelling, don't you?!), Virenda, Ann, Yellow Rose, Chickadee

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Beautiful

...that's a tough word for me somedays...one I struggle with wanting to apply to me somedays, and yet, one I have trouble accepting being applied to me at all. In a worldly sense, it can be a troublesome word.

When we were at Breakforth this year, we got the chance to worship with and learn from Tim Hughes, who wrote the worship song "Beautiful One". Now, God and the word beautiful go together perfectly...and yet it's such a different use of the word 'beautiful' than the world lifts up...well, the same AND different, both.

Tim is from London and has this most excellent English accent, so when he pronounces 'beautiful', it stands out to me... most folks around here pronounce it 'bEUdiful'...but Tim sings out 'bEUTiful one'...and my soul was touched by his devotion on that song today...


Beautiful One
by Tim Hughes

The first moment of inspiration for the song Beautiful One came whilst I was reading through some passages in Isaiah. A verse in Isaiah 53:2 particularly jumped out at me:

“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”

These prophetic verses about Jesus are amazing - to think that the all-powerful and glorious Son of God would make Himself nothing and walk upon the earth as an ordinary human being. Jesus had no exceptional human features that would make Him stand out as someone special, as someone of worth. However for those who call Jesus, Savior, for those whose eyes have seen, we know just how beautiful Jesus truly is. When our eyes have been opened, our hearts will be captivated and no earthly beauty or pleasure will ever compare.

“You opened my eyes to your wonders anew
You captured my heart with this love
Because nothing on earth is as beautiful as you”

It’s a wonderful truth to know that until we meet God in heaven face to face, there will always be more of Him to discover. There will be more of His beauty, His majesty, His mercy and His power to drink in. Whilst we live on this earth we will never fully understand all that God has in store for us. Read these words in 1 Corinthians 2:9,

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

We see in part. We catch glimpses; but until we stand face to face before the Lord we will never fully understand just how glorious and beautiful He is. Our small human minds have no way of ever comprehending how incredible that moment will be. The greatest experience we could have on the face of the earth will pale in comparison to that awesome day. We will tremble before His greatness. We will be overwhelmed by His glory. We will be transfixed by His beauty. Forever and a day our souls will sing ‘Beautiful One.’

“My Soul my soul must sing
My Soul my soul must sing
My Soul my soul must sing
Beautiful One”