Jackie Evancho The Lord's Prayer

Another Charlotte Church

Ronald Reagan Tribute

Imagine the US having a president like this again or Canada having a PM like this. Wow.

Sisters and........snakes.

 Now, I don't want you to get any bad impressions from the title.  There is really no connection between "sisters" and "snakes".  Particularly when I'm talking about my Secret Sister.  Not that any connection becomes apparent when I'm talking about my "real" sisters.  No.  I don't want to imply that ;)  So, the only thing that warrants them ending up in the same sentence is the fact that they were both a part of my week.  Let me explain......

On Tuesday evening we met at the church to do our big "secret sister reveal".  The theme for the evening was "Bag Ladies" (did I get that right?  Or was it about purses? ;)) and everything revolved around women and our penchant for big purses that hold everything we might ever need......or not.  We all had to pull something interesting out of our purses and explain why it was in there.  I had to explain away a squished, half-eaten sandwich.  The devotion challenged us to examine the "baggage" we carry around and start pruning from our lives the things that detract us from our goal of glorifying the Lord and enjoying Him forever.  We enjoyed games, coffee, food and some great fellowship with a whole bunch of fun women - all sisters within our church family.

 Above is Sue.  I was her Secret Sister this year.  Through this terrific program I had the privilege of praying for her, sending her cards of encouragement, remembering special milestones and days of remembrance in her life, and treating her to a few little gifts - like a heart shaped chocolate cheesecake for her and Dan's wedding anniversary :)

And below is Robin.  She was my Secret Sister.  She was a tremendous encouragement to me, even though I didn't know who it was that was praying for me.  How thrilling to have either Lisa or Alison (our S.S. organizers.......that reads a little sinister, doesn't it? :)) find me at church to hand me a special something from my S.S.!  Gifts, chocolate, cards that touched my heart and left me feeling so cared about.  Did I mention chocolate?  It's very uplifting to just know that within the church is a sister in Christ who has you on her prayer list and is intervening for you on a regular basis.  The Lord really used this as a great source of joy to me this year.

 And today we headed out to Narcisse........and the snake pits!  Wow - what an interesting place!  Thousands of garter snakes winter over in dens and emerge again when the warmth of spring entices them out.  We could look down on the dens and watch hundreds of the snakes slithering all over each other as they enjoyed the sunshine.  I thought it might be kinda creepy, but it wasn't - it was so neat!

 On the little hike out to the pits I had to constantly reassure Corin that it wouldn't be really scary and he wouldn't have snakes swarming all over him.  Of course, his big brothers didn't do much to alleviate his fears.... But he ended up loving it!

 Sky, our puppy, was a little taken aback by the snakes (when she noticed them).  Though most of the snakes were below in the pit, a large number were also in the grasses at the edges of the path, so we did get some closer looks at them, too.  Yvetta gave us all a laugh when, 10 minutes after we arrived at the the pit, she ran over and yelled, "Mommy, guess what?  I saw a snake!!"  She got very brave and even picked up a few of them.

 God is an awesome Creator.  Whether it's the sisters we have in our lives or the wildlife all around us, God has given us so many rich blessings to fill our lives.  Everywhere we look there is evidence of His creative genius if we're only willing to look at life through the lens of faith - not just when we're doing "God stuff", but every moment.  Our lives are so much more enriched and meaningful when we allow everything to point us back to our Heavenly Father.

Consider the Preacher

Consider the Preacher, his job isn’t quite

One round of unbroken, unmingled delight.

His work may seem easy to folks in the pew,

And many may think he has little to do.

But often his problems and tasks are the kind

That burden the heart and weary the mind.

He must please the parents, and take with the youth

Draw crowds to the church and still tell them the truth.

His sermons of course must conform to the views

Of judges and critics who sit in the pews.

They have to be studied, instructive and new

With fresh illustrations, both pointed and true.

They must not be heavy or trifling or long,

And never too sharp or too plain or too strong.

The voice must be pleasing, the gestures correct

The grammar and diction be free from defect

He must not be loud, yet he has to speak out

So old folk may know what he’s talking about.

He must tell the rich the reward will be great

For pennies and nickels they drop in the plate.

He must preach on giving in such a way

That no one objects to the things he may say.

Whenever it happens that somebody dies

The dead must be honoured and praised to the skies

For, whether the life has been noble or base,

The funeral talk must be nothing but praise.

It’s just too bad if a word has displeased

A friend or a relative of the deceased.

He must be an orator, a scholar, and seer,

A singer with sensitive, musical ear,

A humourist, satirist, diplomat, wit,

A man who has wisdom, courage and grit.

A leader and business man, one who can get

The requisite money for budget and debt.

He must have an appetite for all of the cakes

And cookies and salads that the ladies make.

He must be a drinker of coffee and tea

Whatever the colour of flavour may be.

His wife must be gifted, attractive and sweet

Industrious, capable, thrifty and neat.

She must be not critical, cranky or cross,

Or one who is anxious to meddle or boss.

The children, of course, must be dear little saints

Whose conduct gives no one a cause for complaints.

They must be respectful, modest and meek,

Know when to be silent and when they should speak.

How well he is liked he may judge by the way

The folks come to church and take care of his pay.

And if they start grumbling he quickly must prove

Both willing and ready to pack up and move.

And that isn’t all – these are only a few

Of merits demanded by folks in the pew.

But preachers are mortals and whoever saw

A man in whose makeup there wasn’t a flaw?

His weaknesses, shortcomings, faults will appear

And were it not so, preachers would not be here.

For reasons that we in this world may not know

The Lord does not keep angels below.

So when he is doing the best that he can

Remember – the preacher is only a man

A poem appearing in a Church Bulletin – June, 1973

Bathroom Facelift

Found a place for the collage I had made of some pics from our time away in Bemidji, MN. I've had the framed collage sitting in the living room for a few weeks now, waiting for a place to call home.
I did want to paint the room first but I was too impatient to get it looking nicer, so we went ahead and just added the cupboard, put up the picture, moved the towel bar and hung a new towel. Rich bought the space saver cupboard and Yvetta and I put it together. 'Cause everything goes faster when you have a 4-yr. old helping you ;)

Sky - our puppy!

Once again, life has changed. Mostly for the better, a little corner reserved for the worse. You know, the corner that night-time sleeping falls into. Our first night with her was rough. For all of us. She slept in our front mudroom and her cries called to us all, pullling the tender hearted right out of bed. I spent the night listening to her cries, thanking Laura for spending 2 hours rocking the puppy, chasing other kids back to bed and finally, helping Caleb set up his bed in the mudroom so we could all sleep for awhile. Except for Caleb. He lasted from 2am-8am but somehow got little sleep - b/c small though that puppy is, she managed to take up all the room while getting as close to Caleb as possible.

But, last night was much better. We put her outside in her house, surrounded by as many "comforts" as we could muster up. A load of hay, 2 thick blankets, a towel, a clock (to tick-tock like a heartbeat) and the Christian radio station playing in the garage by her little door. And she did great! I checked her every hour, or so, and she was nice and quiet. This morning found her ecstatic to see us and a little shivery in the morning air (but her house was toasty warm - I checked :) so I brought her back into the mudroom to play with the kids.

All in all, I think we're adjusting quite well. And having fun doing it :)

Google Glasses

What will this mean for the future?

Justin Taylor discusses. Click here.

Aurora Borealis

Taken last night just outside our patio door and from our back yard. It was slightly overcast and hazy, but you could still make them out.

Rattlin' Bog

We heard this fun song performed once at the amphitheater in Bronte Creek Provincial Park. If you listen to this version, these guys sing it incredibly fast at the end!

CJ Mahaney

CJ Mahaney delivered a very encouraging message at the Sovereign Grace Ministries Pastor's Conference entitled "When A Pastor Loses Heart" from II Corinthians 4:

"Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. ² But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. ³ But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, ⁴ whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. ⁵ For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ....." II Corinthians 4:1-18

Click here to listen. Here are his 3 points....

1. The call of Christian ministry (vv. 1–6)

2. The context of Christian ministry (vv. 7–15)

3. The hope of Christian ministry (vv. 16–18)

He is speaking on the same theme at the T4G conference which is taking place this week, April 10-12!

Expansion is now in use.

It all started with a hole in the ground. Curiosity was aroused. What kind of building project was the church getting itself into? What would it end up looking like in the end?
...Only a year and a bit later, this is the answer we got! What used to be just a hole in the ground has become a whole lot more room for the church to enter and exit as well as a place to spend some quality fellowship time every Sunday!

The new elevator
The new council room. Yes... those are leather chairs.
The new stair way to the sanctuary.

A lot more hooks and hangers...
A big room that fills up with a lot people after church services.
And doors that open. Yes we need those, too.

Of course, the extra room means more cleaning and a lot more concern over what the kids do with their time after church. (No more running around on the mud hills, kids, especially you Anjemas!).

Seriously, it all looks really good and a lot of hard work & thought was put into the project. We're thankful to the Lord for this blessing!

What's next after this? I believe the carpet will be replaced in the sanctuary, new windows will be installed to replace the old ones, and still some more work needs to be done in the basement.... It also will be interesting to see how well the new central A/C will work this summer!

And it was a Good Friday.

The day began with Yvetta climbing into bed with me, long after Rich had gotten up to prepare for the Good Friday church service. We languished like ladies of leisure (church was half an hour later than usual, after all, so we felt like we could afford a few more minutes in bed ;) and then finally got up at 7:30 to get the ball rolling. Breakfast, panic over lost church clothing, someone who didn't get up at all until 2 minutes before leaving, last minute rush......the normal church morning stuff. But in there I managed to check facebook to see what words of inspiration some friends would be sure to have on this special morning. And I wasn't disappointed. Snatches of hymns, verses and reflections set my mind on things above and I was able to focus on the beauty of the day - the miracle of the occasion and the freedom I have b/c my Saviour died for me!
After church we rushed home and somehow took an hour (or more!!) to prepare a picnic lunch and get changed for our afternoon at Bird's Hill! A family from church kindly invited us to share their Good Friday outing (not the first time they've done this!) and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! The Ruiters joined us and the laughter rang out as we chatted and joked and played.
The kids flew kites, kicked balls, talked, imagined and just did what kids do so well - had fun all together.
And the adults did what we tend to do quite well - we talked. And talked. And then some more.
Laura and Miriam, fast friends, their friendship a special gift from God.
Wild stroller rides that rivaled a trip on a roller-coaster, much to the kids' delight :)
Little cuties, one clad in bright pink sunglasses with a personality to match :)

Chubby babies to snuggle made the day complete :)

Ken and one of his MANY incredible thrift store finds........:)

All in all, a wonderful day, leaving us with new memories to pack away in our minds and hearts - and here on our blog. So thankful that our fellowship goes so much deeper than just the ability to get along. Our kinship is grounded in Christ - making it strong and even eternal. And all b/c His love was so great that He wouldn't leave us doomed to hell by our own sin. In that truth a day like today comes to life, giving everything vivid meaning, pointing us to ultimate Love and giving us reason to rejoice!

Wedding Day Casting Crowns

Nice follow up song to go along with the one before.

Casting Crowns - Just Another Birthday

Not just for the birds......

So, after dinner today I took a plate of worms out of the fridge.

And we ate them.

Every last one of them.

Because they just tasted so very good.

April Fools :)

Jello worms.