Tonight is the first meeting of the year for the Sunday School staff at our church, of which yours truly is a part. It's been nice to have the summer off to rest and get refreshed, but I'm actually really excited about the start of a new year. I'm planning on building on some of the things that I taught my class last year (the 10 commandments, books of the Bible, scripture memorization), as well as incorporating some new things into the curriculum (the Beatitudes, how God made each of us special and unique). Although we have prescribed curriculum that we use, I enjoy getting creative from time to time and doing my own thing with the class, particularly if there's something I want to teach that we don't have in the current curriculum.
One of the nice things about belonging to a small congregation is that we generally have the same students from year to year. Last year I taught grades 3-6 (which was only 5 students); this year I'm not sure what grades I'm going to end up with. It's going to depend on how they decide to split the classes up between me and the other elementary teacher.
TTFN!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
How I Spent My Summer Vacation, Part 1
Prologue
My cousin Angela got married on July 20th in Steinbach, Manitoba (about 45 minutes outside of Winnipeg). When my mom and dad and I started making plans to attend, initially we were only going to take a couple of days, go to the wedding and come home again. Somewhere along the way, we decided to extend our trip and take a little vacation. With my Dad needing to have two separate surgeries (one for his cancer and one on his that keeps dislocating), it's uncertain when we'll have another chance to take a vacation. We decided that we would leave on Thursday the 17th once I got home from work, drop the dogs off at their kennel (it was on our way) and drive to Saskatoon where we'd spend the night. Friday morning we'd get up, have breakfast at one of our favourite restaurants, and then drivwe to Winnipeg. I was staying with my Aunty Ingrid and Uncle Rick; Mom and Dad were going to be staying with my Uncle Wayne (Uncle Rick and Uncle Wayne are my mom's brothers). We'd have Saturday to rest from our travels, and we had been invited to my cousin Kristi's home for dinner. The wedding was going to be on Sunday, and we were going to leave the reception a little bit early to cross the border into North Dakota. Our destination was Grand Forks. We were going to spend two nights there (so Dad could go to Menards hardware store) and then continue driving across North Dakota and Montana to Missoula over the course of the week. We planned to spend a night in Great Falls so that Mom and I could go to the Goodwill store there (people always think we're nuts when we tell them that that's our favourite store there) before going to Missoula. We'd spend three nights in Missoula to do some shopping and then come home.
Ever heard the saying "Man plans, God laughs"? Yeah. Here's how our vacation really went...
Remind me again why I left work early?
I had made arrangements to get out of work an hour early, thinking (perhaps rather foolishly) that we could get on the road earlier, and thus get to Saskatoon earlier. Boy, was I wrong! I made one quick stop on the way home - to buy panythose for the wedding that I didn't end up wearing anyway - and then headed home. Mom had gone into the city to get a few things, and apparently got home not very long before I did. I was pretty much packed; my mom, not so much. So when I got home, she was running around in a tizzy madly trying to finish her packing. Too much of a tizzy, apparently; she forgot to pack a couple of rather essential items (I won't go into the specifics; suffice it to say we had to make an emergency stop at Wal-Mart in Saskatoon before we left the next morning). We finally got out of the house at 6:30, and I think the only reason we left then was because we had to drop the dogs off before 7:00. As it was, we just barely made it to the kennel.
To be continued...
My cousin Angela got married on July 20th in Steinbach, Manitoba (about 45 minutes outside of Winnipeg). When my mom and dad and I started making plans to attend, initially we were only going to take a couple of days, go to the wedding and come home again. Somewhere along the way, we decided to extend our trip and take a little vacation. With my Dad needing to have two separate surgeries (one for his cancer and one on his that keeps dislocating), it's uncertain when we'll have another chance to take a vacation. We decided that we would leave on Thursday the 17th once I got home from work, drop the dogs off at their kennel (it was on our way) and drive to Saskatoon where we'd spend the night. Friday morning we'd get up, have breakfast at one of our favourite restaurants, and then drivwe to Winnipeg. I was staying with my Aunty Ingrid and Uncle Rick; Mom and Dad were going to be staying with my Uncle Wayne (Uncle Rick and Uncle Wayne are my mom's brothers). We'd have Saturday to rest from our travels, and we had been invited to my cousin Kristi's home for dinner. The wedding was going to be on Sunday, and we were going to leave the reception a little bit early to cross the border into North Dakota. Our destination was Grand Forks. We were going to spend two nights there (so Dad could go to Menards hardware store) and then continue driving across North Dakota and Montana to Missoula over the course of the week. We planned to spend a night in Great Falls so that Mom and I could go to the Goodwill store there (people always think we're nuts when we tell them that that's our favourite store there) before going to Missoula. We'd spend three nights in Missoula to do some shopping and then come home.
Ever heard the saying "Man plans, God laughs"? Yeah. Here's how our vacation really went...
Remind me again why I left work early?
I had made arrangements to get out of work an hour early, thinking (perhaps rather foolishly) that we could get on the road earlier, and thus get to Saskatoon earlier. Boy, was I wrong! I made one quick stop on the way home - to buy panythose for the wedding that I didn't end up wearing anyway - and then headed home. Mom had gone into the city to get a few things, and apparently got home not very long before I did. I was pretty much packed; my mom, not so much. So when I got home, she was running around in a tizzy madly trying to finish her packing. Too much of a tizzy, apparently; she forgot to pack a couple of rather essential items (I won't go into the specifics; suffice it to say we had to make an emergency stop at Wal-Mart in Saskatoon before we left the next morning). We finally got out of the house at 6:30, and I think the only reason we left then was because we had to drop the dogs off before 7:00. As it was, we just barely made it to the kennel.
To be continued...
God Painted The Sky
One of the things I love most about my daily commute is getting to watch the sun come up in my rearview mirror in the morning. This is a short-lived experience, only occurring for about 1-2 weeks in the spring and fall. Right now in the mornings, the sun is already over the horizon when I leave; in another week or two we'll be to the time when I get to watch the sky turn gradually go from the pre-dawn grey to ever-increasing tinges of pink and purple, and then finally to glorious shades of orange and gold as the sun breaks over the horizon and colour floods the sky. I love witnessing this phenomon; somehow whatever worries or stresses are bothering suddenly seem so insignificant.
Last week (Thursday, to be precise) I was driving to work, occasionally glancing in my rearview mirror to see the sunrise, as I always do. I had one of my favourite Rebecca St. James discs in the CD player, and I was listening to this amazing praise and worship song that's on it (for about the fifth time in a row). There's one point in the song where the music builds to a crescendo; at the very instant that the crescendo hit, I reached a placed on the highway where the trees give way to fields and the sunrise blazed across the sky, colouring everything gold and orange. All at once, the pain in my joints from the cool, damp morning, the stress over the piles of paperwork sitting on my desk, even the other cars on the highway, everything just dropped away. At that moment, it was just me and my Creator, and I was overwhelmed by such a deep, powerful feeling of peace and contentment that it actually gave me goosebumps. I was suddenly compelled to lift my hand in worship and praise to my God. The moment passed, but the feeling stayed with me for the rest of the morning.
"Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise.
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will sing...
Blessed be your name."
("Blessed Be Your Name" - R. St. James, The Ultimate Collection, Disc 2)
TTFN!
Last week (Thursday, to be precise) I was driving to work, occasionally glancing in my rearview mirror to see the sunrise, as I always do. I had one of my favourite Rebecca St. James discs in the CD player, and I was listening to this amazing praise and worship song that's on it (for about the fifth time in a row). There's one point in the song where the music builds to a crescendo; at the very instant that the crescendo hit, I reached a placed on the highway where the trees give way to fields and the sunrise blazed across the sky, colouring everything gold and orange. All at once, the pain in my joints from the cool, damp morning, the stress over the piles of paperwork sitting on my desk, even the other cars on the highway, everything just dropped away. At that moment, it was just me and my Creator, and I was overwhelmed by such a deep, powerful feeling of peace and contentment that it actually gave me goosebumps. I was suddenly compelled to lift my hand in worship and praise to my God. The moment passed, but the feeling stayed with me for the rest of the morning.
"Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise.
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will sing...
Blessed be your name."
("Blessed Be Your Name" - R. St. James, The Ultimate Collection, Disc 2)
TTFN!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Inspired!
I've been buying scrapbook magazines like crazy lately - and there's a couple more idea books that I'm looking for! I've seen some really neat ideas, and it's gotten me inspired to create.
In my July/August Simple Scrapbooks, there was an article on quick and easy travel albums. The one that I jsut loved was an altered recipe card box (covered in actual maps - how cool is that?) with postcards made from actual vacation photos. As soon as I saw it, I right away thought of a picture I took when I went to Europe in 1995. One of the cities we visited was Innsbruck, Austria; which hosted a couple of Winter Olympics (don't ask me the years, though). We went up to the ski jump hill, and I took a great picture of Innsbruck down in the valley below, with the Alps in the background. It's my favourite picture from the trip, and I think it would make a great postcard.
Then in a Creating Keepsakes magazine I bought last week, there's an article about making a "Snapshot of my Life" album. Some of the layout ideas are really neat, and it's got me wanting to make my own snapshot album. I already have ideas on putting together some of the layouts, and what I want them to look like. One of my favourite layouts is the one that's composed of a few top 10 lists, like the one I made of "10 things I always have in my purse". Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE top 10 lists? Lists in general, actually. And I love scrapbooking with lists.
The other idea that I came up with, that I'm really excited about and can't wait to start, is a "Smile" book - an album full of things that make me smile. I have a lot of scrapbooking things that I've bought just because I love them. But because I love them so much, I don't want to use them (like the 3D Winnie the Pooh sticker I bought just because he's cute and he's Winnie the Pooh and I love Winnie the Pooh). So I'm going to put them in a little scrapbook for those times when I need a little pick-me up. Just think - all my favourite happy things in one place! One of the pictures I'm going to use is one of James and I when we were really young; I think I was about 3-4, so Jamie would have been 2-3. He's standing looking right at the camera, but I'm standing sort of facing him with both arms his shoulders. I love that picture!
TTFN!
In my July/August Simple Scrapbooks, there was an article on quick and easy travel albums. The one that I jsut loved was an altered recipe card box (covered in actual maps - how cool is that?) with postcards made from actual vacation photos. As soon as I saw it, I right away thought of a picture I took when I went to Europe in 1995. One of the cities we visited was Innsbruck, Austria; which hosted a couple of Winter Olympics (don't ask me the years, though). We went up to the ski jump hill, and I took a great picture of Innsbruck down in the valley below, with the Alps in the background. It's my favourite picture from the trip, and I think it would make a great postcard.
Then in a Creating Keepsakes magazine I bought last week, there's an article about making a "Snapshot of my Life" album. Some of the layout ideas are really neat, and it's got me wanting to make my own snapshot album. I already have ideas on putting together some of the layouts, and what I want them to look like. One of my favourite layouts is the one that's composed of a few top 10 lists, like the one I made of "10 things I always have in my purse". Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE top 10 lists? Lists in general, actually. And I love scrapbooking with lists.
The other idea that I came up with, that I'm really excited about and can't wait to start, is a "Smile" book - an album full of things that make me smile. I have a lot of scrapbooking things that I've bought just because I love them. But because I love them so much, I don't want to use them (like the 3D Winnie the Pooh sticker I bought just because he's cute and he's Winnie the Pooh and I love Winnie the Pooh). So I'm going to put them in a little scrapbook for those times when I need a little pick-me up. Just think - all my favourite happy things in one place! One of the pictures I'm going to use is one of James and I when we were really young; I think I was about 3-4, so Jamie would have been 2-3. He's standing looking right at the camera, but I'm standing sort of facing him with both arms his shoulders. I love that picture!
TTFN!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Trial By Fire
I saw a journal prompt that called out to me on Teri Leigh Owens' blog (http://www.inspiretobelieve.blogspot.com/) that I thought I would answer here. The prompt was to write about a tough time that you've gone through that has made you stronger. That's an easy one - it was the year and a half between when I first found out that my kidneys were failing and I needed a transplant and when I actually had the surgery.
We had always been told that transplantation was an eventual possibility for me. But because I had been healthy for so long, it was easy enough to sweep those thoughts under the rug and forget about them. Having the news come at me out of the blue really hit me hard. My first thought when the doctor told me the news was "If this is God's idea of a joke, I'm not laughing." After the initial shock wore off, the fear and the anger set it. I often thought, "How could God do this to me?" I didn't realize it at the time, but He was getting ready to teach me some really important lessons about my life, my faith, my beliefs and what it means to trust fully and completely in Him.
One of the first symptoms of my kidneys shutting down that I experienced was anemia. Have you ever had a day when you woke up really tired, and felt like you didn't have the energy to get out of bed? That's pretty much what it was like for me every day. I got tired going up and down stairs, I got tired taking my dog outside to go to the bathroom (at the time we were trying to keep her as an indoor dog), I even got tired just brushing my hair. My doctor warned me that it would happen; I just never expected it to start so soon. A few weeks after finding all of this out, I went to work at the Bible camp down the road for the summer. I got through the two training weeks okay, but by the end of the first week of camp I was completely exhausted, and things went downhill from there. I used to cry myself to sleep at night because I was so exhausted, and I woke up in the morning praying for enough strength to get through just one more day. By the beginning of the final week of camp, I was ready to go to the camp director and quit - I didn't think I could handle any more.
But you know what? God was right there with me all the time. I couldn't see it at the time, but looking back now I can see all the hundreds of ways that he was looking after me when I didn't have the strength to look after myself. There were my camp friends who were there for me with hugs and prayers whenever I needed them and offers to help me with my work chores and optional activities if I needed the rest or just needed extra help, there was the camp director assigning me more experienced CITs (counsellors-in-training) to help me, there was the way that I always managed to find the strength to get through that "one more day", there was the encouragement from the campers and pastors who came each week when they found out what I was dealing with, there were so many things. I often think of the poem "Footprints" by Margaret Fishback Powers, and I know that this was one of the times in my life when I would see only one set of footprints - my Heavenly Father was carrying me in His arms because I didn't have the strength to go on by myself.
It was during this time that I found my verse (you can see it on my sidebar). I came across it in a book that I was reading. When I read the words, I suddenly felt like God was speaking to me directly through the book and telling me that I had to trust in Him, and that everything was going to be alright. I memorized that verse, and I used to repeat it to myself whenever I got scared. I have a beautiful Thomas Kinkade bookmark with another version of this verse on it. It says "Always let Him lead you, and He will clear the way for you to follow". That's the biggest thing that I learned from all of this - to keep following Him, even when I can't see what lies around the next bend. He's know what's there, and He won't let me fall. I realize now that I can't make it on my own, in spite of my best efforts to do so. I need Him to guide me through the rough spots and to hold out that beacon of hope for me to follow.
When I reflect on this time in my life, I often think of the song "Refiner's Fire". Just as gold and silver is refined in the fire to make it stronger, God used this time to "refine" me to make me stronger. I can honestly say that I wouldn't be where I am today if not for what I went through. Thanks God.
We had always been told that transplantation was an eventual possibility for me. But because I had been healthy for so long, it was easy enough to sweep those thoughts under the rug and forget about them. Having the news come at me out of the blue really hit me hard. My first thought when the doctor told me the news was "If this is God's idea of a joke, I'm not laughing." After the initial shock wore off, the fear and the anger set it. I often thought, "How could God do this to me?" I didn't realize it at the time, but He was getting ready to teach me some really important lessons about my life, my faith, my beliefs and what it means to trust fully and completely in Him.
One of the first symptoms of my kidneys shutting down that I experienced was anemia. Have you ever had a day when you woke up really tired, and felt like you didn't have the energy to get out of bed? That's pretty much what it was like for me every day. I got tired going up and down stairs, I got tired taking my dog outside to go to the bathroom (at the time we were trying to keep her as an indoor dog), I even got tired just brushing my hair. My doctor warned me that it would happen; I just never expected it to start so soon. A few weeks after finding all of this out, I went to work at the Bible camp down the road for the summer. I got through the two training weeks okay, but by the end of the first week of camp I was completely exhausted, and things went downhill from there. I used to cry myself to sleep at night because I was so exhausted, and I woke up in the morning praying for enough strength to get through just one more day. By the beginning of the final week of camp, I was ready to go to the camp director and quit - I didn't think I could handle any more.
But you know what? God was right there with me all the time. I couldn't see it at the time, but looking back now I can see all the hundreds of ways that he was looking after me when I didn't have the strength to look after myself. There were my camp friends who were there for me with hugs and prayers whenever I needed them and offers to help me with my work chores and optional activities if I needed the rest or just needed extra help, there was the camp director assigning me more experienced CITs (counsellors-in-training) to help me, there was the way that I always managed to find the strength to get through that "one more day", there was the encouragement from the campers and pastors who came each week when they found out what I was dealing with, there were so many things. I often think of the poem "Footprints" by Margaret Fishback Powers, and I know that this was one of the times in my life when I would see only one set of footprints - my Heavenly Father was carrying me in His arms because I didn't have the strength to go on by myself.
It was during this time that I found my verse (you can see it on my sidebar). I came across it in a book that I was reading. When I read the words, I suddenly felt like God was speaking to me directly through the book and telling me that I had to trust in Him, and that everything was going to be alright. I memorized that verse, and I used to repeat it to myself whenever I got scared. I have a beautiful Thomas Kinkade bookmark with another version of this verse on it. It says "Always let Him lead you, and He will clear the way for you to follow". That's the biggest thing that I learned from all of this - to keep following Him, even when I can't see what lies around the next bend. He's know what's there, and He won't let me fall. I realize now that I can't make it on my own, in spite of my best efforts to do so. I need Him to guide me through the rough spots and to hold out that beacon of hope for me to follow.
When I reflect on this time in my life, I often think of the song "Refiner's Fire". Just as gold and silver is refined in the fire to make it stronger, God used this time to "refine" me to make me stronger. I can honestly say that I wouldn't be where I am today if not for what I went through. Thanks God.
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