Remembering God's Faithfulness



Thirteen Ways God Has Been So Faithful to Me...

I'm waiting to see what's next for me and so I thought it would be good to remember ways that God has been faithful to me in the past...

1. I was single a few years longer than I had hoped (ok, more than a few!), but then God brought me His man for me and he has SO been worth the wait!

2. When Les and I were first dating, we lived in different cities, 1000 miles apart, but God broke through all the obstacles and we ended up here together.

3. I believe that God always intended me to be Amanda's mom...and how he brought us together and the bond there is between us still amazes me! Les and I got married in November 2002, and Amanda came to live with us in December of that year, and three short months later she chose to start calling me 'Mommy':) Only God could do that!

4. In the summer of 1998, God healed me of a private health issue. As I look back I'd like to think it had something to do with a step of obedience I was taking, but in truth, I hadn't really accomplished much in that area when He did it. It really was His grace (and not anything I did).

5. In the late 1990's when I was working in a high-paced pressured environment where everyone was fighting to gain more, God impressed upon me that I didn't need more, I needed Him and He made a way for me to cut back so I could serve Him...and the bills all still got paid.

6. When we were selling the condo I had lived in when I was single and trying to buy this house for our family, and we thought we'd loose our deal on the house because the original buyer of the condo fell through, God made a way for us to get into the house before our daughter joined us so she would have a home...and the deal didn't cost more money!

7. In the home I grew up in there were some things that happened that I don't want to talk about here, but I just know that God's hand was on me and somehow through everything I always knew He loved me, so I was ok.

8. When I lived in Regina and wanted to move back to Saskatoon and prayed for a transfer, there was a point at which it seemed that all the doors had been closed and I went off by myself I guess to cry and in that moment God gave me an assurance that it wasn't over. Shortly after that I got the transfer I had been hoping for.

9. In 2000 when an extreme situation at work became so bad that I was breaking out in hives, God taught me about boundaries and I learned to say 'no' sometimes.

10. Now people weren't used to me having boundaries so sometimes they didn't respect them...and that's when God provided me with another opportunity.

11. Last fall, during the busiest period of the year for me at work, two of my staff ended up off with serious ailments, and my staff and I were all spread more than a little thin, but God gave me what I needed to fill the holes and somehow we got everything done and done well in time for the audit.

12. I met my friend, Alana, through a nudging from God to pray for her and I saw Him do a miracle in her...the fluid around her heart disappeared by the next test and I saw her come back from a very difficult place. And through this experience I have gained such a precious friend who has been a big sister to me:)

13. More than a year ago, I scraped the front bumper of the car in a parking lot, and, well, it's a long story, but let's just say that it was my fault, but yet my husband was so gracious to me. I was so guilt ridden and I prayed and prayed for forgiveness and tried to make things right and not only did I experience God's forgiveness, but he put flesh on it through my husband and showered His grace on me and the whole situation.

I remember shortly before Les came into my life, He gave me this verse as I waited..."He'll turn your waiting into dancing." I had always heard that translated before as 'mourning into dancing,' but this translation spoke something new into my heart...and God more than fulfilled that. Right now, I'm waiting for a new opportunity...and doing what I can while I wait...so it's good to remember how He's turned waiting into dancing before:) (Your prayers are always welcome too!)




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Oh The Irony!!

This morning as I was eating my breakfast before my bike ride, I was flipping through the stations when I caught a bit of Monty Python's Flying Circus. I don't think I would have paused there, but they were talking about 'chartered accountancy', and the sketch was rich with irony for me (you see, I am a chartered accountant.)

Vocational Guidance counselor
As featured in the Flying Circus TV Show - Episode 10

The sketch:
(As the sketch open Voices can be heard singing Vocational guidance counselor ... vocational guidance counselor ... vocational guidance counselor ... etc. Office set. Man sitting at desk. Mr Anchovy is standing waiting. The counselor looks at his watch then starts the sketch.)

counselor: Ah Mr Anchovy. Do sit down.

Anchovy: Thank you. Take the weight off the feet, eh?

counselor:: Yes, yes.

Anchovy: Lovely weather for the time of year, I must say.

counselor: Enough of this gay banter. And now Mr Anchovy, you asked us to advise you which job in life you were best suited for.

Anchovy: That is correct, yes.

counselor: Well I now have the results here of the interviews and the aptitude tests that you took last week, and from them we've built up a pretty clear picture of the sort of person that you are. And 1 think I can say, without fear of contradiction, that the ideal job for you is chartered accountancy.

Anchovy: But I am a chartered accountant.

counselor: Jolly good. Well back to the office with you then.

Anchovy: No! No! No! You don't understand. I've been a chartered accountant for the last twenty years. I want a new job. Something exciting that will let me live.

counselor: Well chartered accountancy is rather exciting isn't it?

Anchovy: Exciting? No it's not. It's dull. Dull. Dull. My goodness it's dull, it's so desperately dull and tedious and stuffy and boring and des-per-ate-ly DULL.

counselor: Well, er, yes Mr Anchovy, but you see your report here says that you are an extremely dull person. You see, our experts describe you as an appallingly dull fellow, unimaginative, timid, lacking in initiative, spineless, easily dominated, no sense of humour, tedious company and irrepressibly drab and awful. And w/hereas in most professions these would be considerable drawbacks, in chartered accountancy they are a positive boon.

Anchovy: But don't you see, I came here to find a new job, a new life, a new meaning to my existence. Can't you help me?

counselor: Well, do you have any idea of what you want to do?

Anchovy: Yes, yes I have.

counselor: What?

Anchovy: (boldly) Lion taming.

counselor: Well yes. Yes. Of course, it's a bit of a jump isn't it? I mean, er, chartered accountancy to lion taming in one go. You don't think it might be better if you worked your way towards lion taming, say, via banking'...

Anchovy: No, no, no, no. No. I don't want to wait. At nine o'clock tomorrow I want to be in there, taming.

counselor: Fine, fine. But do you, do you have any qualifications?

Anchovy: Yes, I've got a hat.

counselor: A hat?

Anchovy: 'Yes, a hat. A lion taming hat. A hat with 'lion tamer' on it. I got it at Harrods. And it lights up saying 'lion tamer' in great big neon letters, so that you can tame them after dark when they're less stroppy.

counselor: I see, I see.

Anchovy: And you can switch it off during the day time, and claim reasonable wear and tear as allowable professional expenses under paragraph 335C...

counselor: Yes, yes, yes, I do follow, Mr Anchovy, but you see the snag is... if I now call Mr Chipperfield and say to him, 'look here, I've got a forty-five-year-old chartered accountant with me who wants to become a lion tamer', his first question is not going to be 'does he have his own hat?' He's going to ask what sort of experience you've had with lions.

Anchovy: Well I ... I've seen them at the zoo.

counselor: Good, good, good.

Anchovy: Lively brown furry things with short stumpy legs and great long noses. I don't know what all the fuss is about, I could tame one of those. They look pretty tame to start with.

counselor: And these, er, these lions ... how high are they?

Anchovy: (indicating a height of one foot) Well they're about so high, you know. They don't frighten me at all.

counselor: Really. And do these lions eat ants?

Anchovy: Yes, that's right.

counselor: Er, well, Mr Anchovy ... I'm afraid what you've got hold of there is an anteater.

Anchovy: A what?

counselor: An anteater. Not a lion. You see a lion is a huge savage beast, about five feet high, ten feet long, weighing about four hundred pounds, running forty miles per hour, with masses of sharp pointed teeth and nasty long razor-sharp claws that can rip your belly open before you can say 'Eric Robinson', and they look like this.

(The counselor produces large picture of a lion and shows to Mr Anchovy who screams and passes out.)

(Mr Anchovy sits up with a start.)

counselor: Now, shall I call Mr Chipperfield?

Anchovy: Er, no, no, no. I think your idea of making the transition to lion taming via easy stages, say via insurance...

counselor: Or banking.

Anchovy: Or banking, yes, yes, banking that's a man's life, isn't it? Banking, travel, excitement, adventure, thrills, decisions affecting people's lives.

counselor: Jolly good, well, er, shall I put you in touch with a bank?

Anchovy: Yes.

counselor: Fine.

Anchovy: Er... no, no, no. Look, er, it's a big decision, I'd like a couple of weeks to think about it... er... you know, don't want to jump into it too quickly. Maybe three weeks. I could let you know definitely then, I just don't want to make this definite decision. I'm er... (continues muttering nervously to himsel)

counselor: (turning to camera) Well this is just one of the all too many cases on our books of chartered accountancy. The only way that we can fight this terrible debilitating social disease, is by informing the general public of its consequences, by showing young people that it's just not worth it. So, so please... give generously... to this address:

The League for Fighting Chartered Accountancy,
55 Lincoln House, Basil Street,
London, SW3.

Thirteen Things that have happened or will happen this week...

1. My friend Charolette, from our small group, is getting married on Saturday!

2. My daughter's birth-mother is in town for a visit (just a bit-o-stress there, but it's going pretty good)

3. My friend Lynn is due to have her baby on the 24th...so it could happen this week!

4. Les and I tried to go to the Taste of Saskatchewan last night...crowds were enormous and parking was not to be found.

5. So we will likely go mid-afternoon on Friday.

6. I got a new suit that Les says follows Stacy and Clinton's rules!

7. I didn't want to spend the money on this even though it was quite reasonable and needed for any potential interviews, but my husband insisted!

8. I learned that an opportunity I was hoping would work out won't:( ...already filled.

9. I've had a little extra time alone with my hubby while Amanda's been visiting with #2.

10. We've gone to Starbucks!!

11. I'm really hoping and a bit anxious to receive some sort of offer/opportunity soon.

12. I'm more convinced than ever that I couldn't stay where I was.

13. I helped them create an ad for my position.

(Keep me in your prayers if you lean that way, k?! ...Thanks!)




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Seen on a dressing room mirror tonight....

Tonight while Amanda was at VBS, Les and I did some shopping, and at one of the stops I was in a dressing room trying on a few skirts when I looked at myself in the mirror while half-naked only to find that I had been framed in it with an antique gold border and the following words written in the upper left-hand corner of the mirror..."My body is a masterpiece." ...Well, that certainly made me smile:)

The store I was in was called 'Addition-elle', and it's one of the better names for a 'plus-sized' clothing store...but it still has a name that denotes that it's for someone 'bigger' (or additional in size). I've gotten used to it, but often wonder why these stores can't just have normal names like small size focused stores? For instance, when I'm in Cotton Ginny they don't call the side of the store geared toward 'smaller' built people 'skinny-ginny', but they do call the side of the store that I shop in 'plus'?! I guess it's because of messages like this that the sign in the dressing room tonight really impacted me in a good way:) So remember, regardless of which side you shop in...you're body is a masterpiece too!!

Thirteen Things I'm Feeling/Thinking These Days...

So this has been a pretty earth-shaking week for me (which explains the lack of posts)...so here's what I'm feeling/thinking about it all..

1. I'm feeling relieved.

2. I feel some peace.

3. I was brave.

4. But yet I still have moments of nervousness and also moments of anxiousness about what's next.

5. But even so, it's better than what I felt last week and there is a peace.

6. I feel loved...by God and certainly by my husband and various family and friends.

7. I have a soft place to fall.

8. I feel affirmed by my husband, inlaws and several friends who I've shared with...and by unexpected sources too... (And for the first time in my life, I think, I heard my mom say they would pray for me.)

9. I have value.

10. I don't want to wait for what's next...somehow I want to know what they next thing is and have that security, but I have to wait and see (all the while, I'm working on it too, you know.)

11. I'm reminded of my post a few weeks back (June 4, 2006) about fluffed up dead rabbits and taking risks...

It sounds like a fluffed-up dead rabbit to me. All over North America people remain in jobs they hate so they can buy stuff they don’t need to impress people who don’t care.
God created you for so much more than that. Could it be time for you to take a deep breath and really live again? Take some risks. God's plan for your life was never about being propped up in a cage.

12. I've been meditating on the words to this song this morning...the words bring tears and hope.

13. I'm going to be ok (I think) ...the feelings aren't as certain yet...there is a peace amid the anxiousness though.

Please keep me in your prayers:)



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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