Blooming

Interceding

2012-02-01T13:15:00.001-05:00

God answers prayer. The people of The Father’s Church in Narra have seen His answers with conversions and salvations and provision and healings. That could be one of the reasons they pray with such enthusiasm, which could be one of the reasons they see answers.

Celebrating with Dance

2012-01-31T11:52:00.001-05:00

You’ll have to imagine the music.

Golden Fingers and Cotton Ball Angels

2012-01-30T14:35:00.001-05:00

A dance.

Angels.

Wow! and Yipee!

Simple Solutions to Curtain Flapping in the Wind

2012-01-26T16:22:00.000-05:00

You can hold it down as Marwin is doing .

You can tie a stone into the corner.

Filipinos are so resourceful.

Our Flag in the Philippines

2012-01-25T14:12:00.000-05:00

At this day-long celebration of the church's 10-year anniversary the church honoured the Canadian contribution by including our flag along with the Filipino flag in a processional into the church. Della Tyrrell Ministries features prominently in the the establishment of The Father's Church in Narra, Palawan, The Philippines.

Della follows Pastor Frances who follows the flag bearers into the church.

Fulfilling our purpose and destiny: setting the captives free.

Pastor Francis and Thata are all smiles as several young girls celebrate with an Asian dance.

Ann with some opening remarks.

Let's celebrate.

The Ride Home after a Long Day

2012-01-24T09:49:00.002-05:00

Palawan Landscapes

Four More Baptisms

2012-01-23T16:44:00.000-05:00

Down to the river for baptisms.

Move the stones.

Do you accept Jesus as your Saviour and Lord of your life? Will you let him wash away all your sin?

We baptise you in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Joy and peace.

That calls for a water fight.

Pig Today, Dinner Tomorrow

2012-01-20T13:52:00.000-05:00

Mr. Pig

being led away.

What is this about?

Tied up.

Let's line up and eat that pig.

Box lunches for all.

Cassava

2012-01-19T13:55:00.001-05:00

Yummy!

Young Babysitters

2012-01-18T08:43:00.000-05:00

Jesus Came to Set the Captives Free

2012-01-17T09:27:00.000-05:00

Marwin knows all about that!

Fascinating Faces

2012-01-16T10:25:00.000-05:00

How could anyone not love these faces?

Of course that includes my husband's face.

Vicky translating

Dave give his testimony as Pastor Frances translates.

Perfect Setting for a Country Church

2012-01-13T12:09:00.000-05:00

Vineyard Church. Nine months before this photo was taken, last February, this church was conceived.

Children playing in the cassava grove beside the church.

View from a pew.

Della meets some of the children.

The pastors of Vineyard Church in their home behind the church.

In Some Way Life in the Philippines Reminds Me of the Wild West

2012-01-10T08:49:00.001-05:00

Seatbelts? What are seatbelts?

Ride that bamboo.

Feeding the Children at Piersite

2012-01-10T08:24:00.000-05:00

A New Church Building for Open Heaven

2012-01-06T15:54:00.002-05:00

Dave, Della, Pastor M and Thata inspect the foundations of the new church.

At night someone sleeps on site to ensure building supplies don't mysteriously disappear.

Blessing and Being Blessed at Open Heaven

2012-01-05T16:37:00.000-05:00

Have you ever seen a more delightful group of children?

A Piece of Paradise

2012-01-04T14:07:00.000-05:00

The logical name for a church in a location such as this? Open Heaven.

Carrying a Block of Ice

2012-01-03T14:32:00.001-05:00

I don't know how far he has to go, but he's walking fast.

caption

Favourite Sport in a Nation of Short People?

2012-01-03T09:34:00.001-05:00

Basketball…of course!

A Look at The Father’s Church in Narra

2012-01-02T11:10:00.001-05:00

The building in the middle is where the church meets. Doesn’t look like much…but wait to see it on a Sunday. The building on the left is the partially completed Father’s Mission House.

School Shots

2011-12-23T16:41:00.001-05:00

The school entrance.

Peering through the window.

Test answer sheet.

Grade 4 students saying good-bye.

View from second floor hallway.

Making a Christmas star.

Recess.

Wow, Is This the Same Place?

2011-12-22T10:21:00.001-05:00

In 2008 Della was asked to come bless the Narra Public School. This was something that a priest would ordinarily do. But, the priest wanted money, so Pastor Francis suggested to the school that he knew someone who would come and bless the school without requiring to be paid. He brought Della to the school and she BLESSED it in the name of JESUS.

The School as we saw it in when we visited with Della three years later in November 2011.

A second-floor hallway…November 2011.

The School as it appeared in 2008.

The School’s vision and mission as stated in English in a booklet about the renovation of the school.

The change involved many parental volunteer hours. The school also received a school improvement grant from the government.

The staff at Narra Public school posing with Della, Dave and myself.

Ontario Vegetables Come to Narra Public School

2011-12-21T14:09:00.001-05:00

While we were in Palawan, the Narra Public School was in the middle of a two-week daily feeding using the dried vegetable mixture from Ontario Christian Cleaners. They did this because they saw that parasites were leaving the bodies of some children who had been eating the vegetables. This two-week trial feeding is somewhat of an experiment.

Here Della meets the grade 4 teacher.

The teacher spoons up a delicious-smelling soup. It reminded me of soup my mother used to make.

There was actually a contest to discover the best recipe for the dried vegetables.

Some of the older students with their empty dishes after the feeding.

Let’s Have that Eye Fixed

2011-12-20T08:21:00.001-05:00

This little fellow scrapped his eye rather badly. Apparently he has been walking around like this for at least four months, maybe longer. Della has arranged for him to go with his mother and Vicky to see a surgeon in Manila.

The Old Cockpet—Feeding Body and Soul

2011-12-19T21:15:00.001-05:00

Thata begins with a prayer.

Ann arrives with the doughnuts.

I’m telling the story about how Jesus forgives and heals the sick man whose friends let him down through the roof bed and all.

Here I’m showing the children the story in Patti Loranger’s book of Gospel cartoons.

Ann teaches the children a song.

The jars and spoons are ready.

Marwin serves up a soup made from the dried vegetables donated by the Ontario Christian Gleaners.

Yummm.

Soup, doughnuts and a movie.

Watching a cartoon movie about Elisha.

Time for some juice.

The Old Cockpet—so many beautiful faces

2011-12-16T12:02:00.001-05:00

Roaming Around Narra

2011-12-15T08:17:00.001-05:00

The market.

The coloured eggs are the boiled ones.

Fish

Yum!

Vicky made sure we didn’t pay too much for anything.

Thata’s flower shop.

Internet Cafe. Time to send messages back home.

A little jog out to one of Della’s favourite restaurant.

Lunch on a banana leaf.

17 Baptisms in the Sulu Sea

2011-12-14T19:59:00.001-05:00

Baptism means giving your life to Jesus, identifying with Him in death, burial and resurrection. Baptism also symbolizes the washing away of sins.

Choosing to be baptised.

Okay, everyone line up.

Seventeen baptisms…definitely a highlight during our trip.

Bong—A Born-Again Born Leader

2011-12-13T09:44:00.001-05:00

Not so long ago, Bong was the captain of a notorious gang. Now he is a captain in the kingdom of God.

Baptised into the kingdom.

Yes, They Make it Look Easy

2011-12-12T15:33:00.001-05:00

Sorry guys, I neglected to get your names.

The Love of the Father and the Love of the Mother

2011-12-09T09:32:00.001-05:00

The youth listened intently as Della teaches about love.

Pastor Frances interprets.

Youth Seminar by the Sea

2011-12-08T08:50:00.001-05:00

Isn’t this the perfect setting for a youth seminar? Never mind youth seminar, it’s the perfect setting for any event.

A bamboo pavilion by the sea.

Lunch is cooking over the fire.

Anticipating a day of seminars.

Ann—administrator extraordinaire.

Paper and pens are ready.

Bananas for snack.

They come by foot.

They come by bike and by trike. Ten youth poured out of that trike—Dave counted.

Time for some serious teaching.

Treated like Royalty

2011-12-07T16:02:00.002-05:00

The lovely home we were invited to stay at while in Narra.

Thank you Bing and Em. You were wonderful hostesses.

And thank you Vicky for coming to help Bing with the cooking and clean-up. We were so spoiled.

The food always looked so appealing. And it tasted even better. Three times a day we had these wonderful meals.

Here we are left to right: Dave, Pastor Frances, Thata, Bing, Vicky and Della. I’m behind the camera.

Philippines - a Sky Lab

2011-12-06T09:23:00.001-05:00

Transportation in the Philippines often means adventure. We didn’t try this. I think it requires a balancing skill innate to the people of the Philippines. They make it look so easy and even comfortable.

Stuffy Friends for Everyone

2011-12-05T11:15:00.003-05:00

These lovable stuffy friends were individually designed and lovingly made by the one and only very talented Betty Anne Warriner.

Back to Manila and off to Palawan.

Captain H – a legend in his own time

2011-12-02T15:21:00.000-05:00

Captain H tells us about his challenges as a police captain in the mountainous regions of Mindanao where the rebels are attempting to set up their own state. There are numerous kidnappings and attacks on mining companies. Mindanao is a mineral rich area. Rich as in billions of pesos worth of nickel, gold and copper are being extracted from the ground each day and shipped off to Japan and China. As H say, “You can pick up money like stones.”

The mountainous areas of Mindanao have become a red alert zone. We were scheduled to talk to Mr. H’s men, but that was wisely changed when kidnappings and killings escalated.

These are Captain H.’s books. One day he was in his room praying when he decided to get up and walk around. Minutes later one of his men came back from manoeuvres, knocked his machine gun against a table and the bullets came flying through the wall into the Captain’s room.

Notice the bullet holes in the wall in Captain H.’s room.

A picture of an abandoned rebels’ nest. In the distance you can make out the site where the Captain’s men were situated and being shot at.

Captain H. sharing stories with Pastor Lumba and Dave.

Sunday Worship at The Father’s House

2011-12-01T14:29:00.001-05:00

A traditional choir.

And dance.

Sharing our testimonies.

Della gets dramatic.

The point is forgiveness. We have to forgive if we personally want to be sent free.

Mission to the Philippines – a few of the people

2011-11-30T11:38:00.001-05:00

This is Noel. He happened to have five days off from his work at PhilRice, so he volunteered to be our personal chauffeur and picture taker.

One day Noel drove us out to Pastor Wilson’s church.

We prayed for Pastor Wilson. He has severe diabetes and has since been admitted to the hospital. Please pray for him. While he was in hospital his church burned down.

Here at Pastor Wilson’s church we prayed for Tutee. The bones in his hands and feet have basically disappeared.

Tutee’s hands.

Situations like these could cause despair if we take our eyes off God. I think that’s why God gave us a rainbow on the way back to The Father’s House.

Philippines – Barefoot Bible study at Panaytayon

2011-11-29T17:37:00.001-05:00

We begin with worship.

And prayer.

Philippinos know how to pray.

Della gives the message on the need to rest in the Lord. Pastor Lumba translates.

Everyone (except us) brought food to share. Very, very tasty.

Jack Fruit always tastes like more.

Philippines – always reaching out

2011-11-28T14:08:00.001-05:00

This outreach includes worship, Bible story and feeding. Pastor Lumba taught the children the following song with actions:

I love God

He is so good

So good to me

He holds my hand

He makes me stand

God is so good to me

Supper includes buns and a rice dish. Dave and Della a spooning out the rice.

Pastora hands out the buns. That’s Noel’s van in the background.

Mission to the Philippines – Life in RTR

2011-11-25T09:18:00.001-05:00

Most mornings in RTR before the sun got too hot, we would go on a roam about.

There are banana trees everywhere.

Car tires have been recycled into patio furniture.

Rice is dried out on cement pads and on the road.

The tricycle a common mode of transportation.

A typical street in RTR.

The market, one of Della’s favourite places.

Rice fields.

There is always a rooster to be heard.

A man up in a tree.

Palm trees abound.

A single pole provides the bridge to this young man’s home.

Buying Balut from a street vendor.

Philippines – meeting our sponsored child

2011-11-24T08:53:00.001-05:00

On our second full day in the Philippines we left Manila and flew to Mindanao, an island in the north.

An aerial view of one small part of Manila.

We stayed at Our Father’s House in RTR, an hour’s drive from Butuan.

Della Tyrrell Ministries helped Pastor Lumba establish this Children’s Home which doubles as a church. The Father’s House began when the Lumbas opened their home to about 20 children whose families had abandoned them. Things have improved greatly since the days when the children slept on the floor and there was not always enough to eat.

Pastora Lumba and Pastor Lumba.

Now there are separate dormitories for boys and girls with beds for everyone.

A number of the residents of the home (present and past).

Dave and I are posing with Wynne Faye, our “adopted” daughter. She is in an agriculture course at the local university.

Joymar is washing up at the water from the artesian well, the digging of which was gifted by a supporter of Della Tyrrell Ministries.

One of the children sweeping the floor in the church sanctuary which doubles as living area.

Dave and I were privileged to take over Pastor and Pastora Lumba’s bedroom. Notice the air-conditioner.

Pastor Lumba and Richard (a Bible school student) tuning up the motorbike.

Snacks are served.

One of the children keeping the flies off our lunch.

Wynne-Faye and Richard at Richard’s birthday dinner.

Mission to the Philippines – Tondo – flood victims

2011-11-23T08:37:00.001-05:00

We visited the makeshift homes of several families who lost everything in the recent floods in Manila.

We prayed for provision and restoration for this family.

And for this family.

This family recycles plastic. They get paid by the pound.

This woman lost her home in the flooding as well. She was ill. We prayed for healing. The church has hired her as a caretaker of the building. It gives her a place to sleep.

Mission to the Philippines – Tondo, Manila

2011-11-22T09:28:00.001-05:00

Hugging.

Serving.

Taking pictures. The children are always quick to pose.

Dancing. Della taught these young people a Jewish folk dance – notice I’m not quite in step.

Presenting gifts including teaching material and a copy of my book.

Mission to the Philippines

2011-11-21T11:31:00.005-05:00

The day after Della of Della Tyrrell Ministries and Dave and I arrived in the Philippines, Pastor Roy took us to Tondo (near Smokey Mountain) where he has a church and runs a feeding program for children in the neighbourhood.

The people here are squatters. They haul in garbage to scavenge.
Pastor Roy’s church provides the children with a place to bath.

There is a Bible lesson. Pastor Roy also provides some basic schooling.

Time for worship.

We participated in the feeding of at least 300 children. The children bring whatever containers they have. Here Dave and Della are spooning up a soup of rice, water, hot chocolate powder, and condensed milk.

Pastor Roy advises this little girl to wait until the soup cools down before she carries it home to share with her family.

(to be continued)

Preparing for a Mission Trip

2011-10-28T13:40:00.003-04:00

A week tomorrow Marty and I are leaving for the Philippines. This will be our first ever mission trip. Hey, we’re only 59. We’re going with Della Tyrrell of Della Tyrrell Ministries.

Above: “Stuffies by Betty Anne” going to the Philippines with us.

Della is connected with an orphanage in Mindanao called “Our Father’s House.” She is also involved with mission work in Palawan. We’ll spend about a week at each place.

I asked Della, “So, what will we be doing?”

“That is a very western question.”

“How so?”

It seems we North Americans always want to know what we will be doing.

The people in the Philippines don’t think that way. Everything is relational. You talk, you find out what is happening and then there is something to do.

I think that is why our itinerary has already changed several times. We do know that we are arriving in Manila, flying to Mindanao, staying at Our Father’s House, back to Manila and then over to Palawan.

When Della first starting going to the Philippines she met up with Pastor Lumba who happened to have some 20 children living in his home, sleeping on the floor. These was mostly children who had been abandoned by their parents.

Della helped Pastor Lumba raise the funds to build an extension on the church to set up proper dormatories for the boys and girls…rooms with actual beds in them. Now she goes back every year to see how things are going.

In Palawan, the people have set up feeding stations supplied with food from Ontario Gleaners. Della arranged things on this end. They are also building a mission house on property funded by Della Tyrrell Ministries. A mission house in the Philippines is a lot cheaper to build than here in North America. I think this one will cost about $6000. They still need some money to complete. (donations accepted, tax receipts available).

So, how do we prepare for this mission trip?

We bought suitcases and backpacks and granola bars and travel-size shampoo and deodorant and shaving cream (for Dave) and a light blankets and we visited the travel doctor where we got our tetanus and hepatitis shots and played dutch bingo with the doctor whose brother-in-law plays golf with Marty’s brother-in-law and whose mother-in-law goes to church with my mother-in-law. “Small world” we decided as we prepare to fly halfway around it.

And we’re getting our hearts ready. We want to do and say whatever it is the Lord purposes. Please pray for us.

Nigel and Amanda

2011-10-22T20:39:00.001-04:00

Whenever we pick up our University daughter at the bus station we bring along someone to surprise her. Last week it was Nigel Barker.

Look What Came With the Corn Flakes!

2011-10-05T21:12:00.002-04:00

The Corn Flakes box suggests we surprise ourselves with a new taste every morning! Well, my daughter was certainly surprised when a sliver of wood came tumbling out of the box.

Owner of 2 Cell Phones…Master of None

2011-09-27T21:10:00.001-04:00

My cell phones are in the possession of my daughters who aren’t rich enough to be trusted by the phone companies.

One of my phones is in Montreal and one is here at home except when my daughter is out which is rather often lately. I’ve never operated my phones, or at least I haven’t until Sunday night when my youngest lent me my phone for the first time.

Sunday night was the first time I actually found myself needing a cell phone. Elizabeth and a friend would be visiting another friend in the hospital. They wanted to be picked up when they were finished visiting but didn’t know when that would be.

Marty and I would be at a church meeting. So, we arranged that Elizabeth would text us from her friend’s phone. (As a jobless high school student, she can only afford the texting plan.) Then we would text her back on her/my phone to let her know when we could get there.

“The keys are so tiny…how do you press the right one.”

“No, mom don’t use you nail…use the pad of your finger.”

We came up with a simple plan. I would simply text K and a number, the number of minutes it would take us to get to the meeting spot of her choice.

As insurance she gave Marty a lesson as well. She thought he might be less cell-phone challenged. I don’t know why. His fingers are fatter than mine.

By the end of our church meeting, we hadn’t had any action from the phone. I checked the screen. Just then the message came in.

I clicked on the message area. I typed in the K. Then the screen changed. I don’t know why it changed. I didn’t know how to get back the message. I pushed the few buttons she had showed me and several others as well. The screen kept changing.

While I was doing this Marty was doing his part leading me to the car and driving us to the hospital.

The text message didn’t reappear. When we were about five minutes from our destination my daughter sent another text. “Where are you?”

Now I had a new starting point. I gingerly pressed the K, changed the keypad to numerical with two clicks on the number icon and then a 5. SEND. Oh the joy of success.

Five minutes later the girls were in the car. “How come it took you so long to return my message?”

“The message disappeared. I was working on getting it back.”

“That took 10 minutes!”

To Leave a Trail of Joy...

2011-09-19T12:08:00.000-04:00

(continued from previous post)

While standing in line at the DriveTest Centre:

I could have passed out oatmeal cookies (if I had brought them).

I could have held sweet-smelling roses.

I could have told jokes.

I could have not told jokes (I did that).

I could have prayed for the people in line with me.

I could have prayed for the lady at Desk 4.

I could have sang a song.

I could have sang, "Joy to the World."

I could have sang until someone paid me not to. Then I could have given the money to the poor or maybe to the lady at Desk 4 (Bribery?).

I could have organized a line dance. We could have had a line dance competition between information and drive test lines.

I could have recited "You will be saved." Romans 10:9.

I could have smiled.

It’s All Based on Choices

2011-09-16T08:33:00.001-04:00

(continued from previous post)

Worse things:

I could have been escorted from the premises for talking to the lady at desk four without first standing in line for two hours.

I could have actually had to wait in line two hours.

Better things:

The DriveTest people could have answered the phone.

The DriveTest people could have answered the email.

Even better thing:

My daughter could have timed her driver training a tad sooner, like two years ago.

Even better than that:

I could have left a trail of joy at the DriveTest Centre.

But how?

(to be continued)

Every Problem has an Expiry Date

2011-09-14T13:29:00.001-04:00

(continued from previous post)

I relayed the information I had gleaned at the DriveTest Centre to my daughter in Montreal. She would not be able to arrange to do her test during the Christmas break.

She went online and booked one of the many dates available to her. (I don’t know why the man told me there would be one date and one date only.)

The date she chose fell on the Monday after the weekend she would be coming to Ontario to celebrate a cousin’s wedding.

Convenient.

It worked out.

There are worse things in the world than driving 10 kilometres to the DriveTest Centre, and waiting in line twenty minutes to find the answer to a simple question.

(to be continued)

An Answer to My Simple Question

2011-09-13T09:00:00.003-04:00

(continued from previous post)

I stood in line. I wondered if the lady at desk 4 may have taken the time to warn the person at the information desk about me. Now that was a paranoid thought.

Twenty minutes later, the lady at the information desk patiently listened to my question, but wasn’t sure about the answer.

She referred me to the man at the desk next to her who was taking applicants for the road test and just happened to be wanting to ask her to do something for him. Inadvertently he heard my question.

The man said my daughter would have to go online before September 27th (when her five years was up) to book her test. She would have to take the date offered and she couldn’t just pick a convenient date during the Christmas break even if she lived out of province.

A simple and straightforward answer to my simple question.

I thanked them both and left.

(to be continued)

This is Streamlined Service?

2011-09-12T09:45:00.001-04:00

(continued from previous post)

I decided to ask the lady at the desk beside a big blue number 4. She looked pleasant enough.

I told her I would like to ask her a simple question about my daughter’s driver’s license. She told me she wouldn’t be able to answer my question. She really didn’t even want to hear my question.

She told me I would have to go and stand in the information line and they would give me a number and then I could have my question answered.

I asked her if I would end up back at her desk after I stood in the line. She told me she couldn’t tell me that and I would have to stand in line and find out.

I asked her which line was the information line and how long it was. She said I would have to stand in line and find out.

I told her my daughter had phoned and emailed, but no one had answered the phone or the email. I asked if they ever answered the phone.

She said no because that would take time away from the person who had been standing in line for two hours to talk to her.

I asked her if I would have to wait in line for two hours. She said I would have to go and stand in line, so she could help the next person who had already stood in line for two hours.

I asked her if the government intended to hire more people. She said she didn’t know what the government intended to do. I guess that since DriveTest is now under a private operator, this was entirely the wrong question.

I thanked her and went to find the appropriate line.

“Sorry about THAT,” I heard her say to the fellow she should have been talking to.

As I mentioned, I had trouble leaving behind a trail of joy.

(to be continued)

What Exactly is A DriveTest Centre?

2011-09-09T08:45:00.001-04:00

(continued from previous post)

This is what the DriveTest Centre says about itself:

We are the new private operator of Ontario's 56 Driver Examination Centres, formerly managed by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. Our DriveTest Centre teams are helping maintain Ontario's road safety record with great customer service, such as reducing waiting time for a road test appointment and more convenient operating hours. With streamlined service, you can focus on what's important: meeting all the requirements to obtain an Ontario driver's licence.

When I walked in I was surprised to see dozens of people milling about and others in several line-ups snaking through the building.

Where do I ask my simple question?

(to be continued)

More Than a DriveTest

2011-09-08T07:57:00.002-04:00

(continued from previous post)

I went to the DriveTest Centre to ask a simple question for my daughter who was in the process of booking a road test.

My daughter is out of province, her five years to complete expires this month, and she wanted to know if she could get an extension to perhaps do her test when she is home for the Christmas break.

She phoned the local DriveTest Centre but they didn’t answer the phone. She emailed the local DriveTest Centre, but they did not respond to the email, so she sent her mother to to local DriveTest Centre to ask the question.

My daughter is glad she didn’t go with me…like I said, I had trouble leaving a trail of joy behind.

(to be continued)

Leaving Joy Everywhere You Go

2011-09-07T20:24:00.003-04:00

I’m reading a book called Blessing Your Spirit. It contains daily readings written to bless a person’s spirit. I’m on day three.

Today’s message blesses me with being contagious with the joy of the Lord…with having so much of His joy that my joy touches everybody I associate with…and I am blessed with leaving behind a trail of joy everywhere I go.

Today I went to DriveTest, a driver examination centre. I had trouble leaving a trail of joy there.

(to be continued)

A Senior’s Moment?

2011-09-06T08:51:00.001-04:00

Friday morning I got up at six.

That’s the time my husband gets up, and about two hours earlier than I’ve been getting up most of this past summer. I had volunteered to be at the 24-7 prayer truck down by the Rock by seven on Friday.

At 6:30 after a refreshing shower and an almost leisurely breakfast, my husband began urging me to make haste. He didn’t want me to glance at the newspaper, or check my e-mail or facebook or even turn on the computer.

I found this rather annoying and told him so. “It only takes 20 minutes at the most to get down to the Rock. I have plenty of time.”

“Marian, we first have to drop the van at the mechanic for service.”

I should have known that. Marty had mentioned it briefly the previous evening.

So, this was why my husband was trying to streamline my morning routine. Dropping the van off at the mechanics would take at least 20 minutes and I needed to hurry if I didn’t want be late for my commitment at the prayer truck.

Now I could claim my forgetting about his van-servicing arrangement to be a classic case of “senior’s moment,” but I think it actually results from another phenomenon. I don’t know if this phenomenon has a name. I’ll call it “melding syndrome.”

I’m thinking the melding syndrome sets in on happily married couples at about the 35th anniversary. I say this because Marty and I have been married for 35 years since June 12th of this year and I have been noticing melding syndrome frequently of late. Basically we are becoming more and more alike in our thinking, our attitudes, our expectations etc., so much so that each assumes the other knows what we know and has exactly the same priorities and objectives. Of course this is a mistaken assumption.

Just because we both wear green spring jackets and blue winter coats and often show up at church in matching clothes doesn’t mean that if Marty arranges to bring the van in for servicing on the day I arrange to get up two hours early to pray that I will remember about the van.

What appears to be a senior’s moment on my part is actually an assumption on my husband’s part that I am totally in sync with his thoughts and plans. He assumes this because after 35 years of blissful marriage our thoughts and plans line up at least 35 percent of the time.

Of course we’ll never be completely melded and that causes the friction. We find ourselves assuming the other knows and thinks exactly what we do, merely because it happens so often. This leads to misunderstandings about what we are doing or not. (As well as strange half-spoken discussions impossible for an outsider to follow, but that’s another story.)

The only antidote: a good measure of the fruit of the Spirit—particularly long-suffering.

Grandbabies are Especially Adorable

2011-08-06T16:58:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the world Ethan David Langelaar!

Some Summer Fun

2011-07-26T13:34:00.001-04:00

Rent bikes, find a trail and ride all day.

Hike along the Niagara escarpment.

Jump into a pool.

Watch fireworks.

Watch a soccer game.

Celebrate with a summery birthday cake.

Is summer so fun because it’s short or does it seem short because it’s so fun?

See My Raccoon? (Raccoons Part 15)

2011-07-25T09:05:00.001-04:00

I’ve heard animal footsteps and I’ve smelled that hormone smell coons leave to let other raccoons know where they are, and I’ve seen droppings and footprints and the damage to our house. Yet, the whole time the only raccoon I’ve seen is the cute one on the side of the Humane Wildlife Control truck.

Demons are like that too. You never see them, but they sure do a lot of damage.

That’s Better (Raccoon Vandalism Part 14)

2011-07-21T08:51:00.001-04:00

Several days later John and Chris both came back. They took out the one-way door and they straightened the soffits. Looks better.

The screening is a bit tacky but I can live with that. Chances are in a few years we’ll pass a law that sends all the raccoons back to the forest. On that day, we’ll don our coonskin caps and tear down the screens. Oh happy day!

Evidence Remains (Raccoon Vandalism Part 13)

2011-07-20T12:32:00.001-04:00

(continued)

Chris left the one-way door up, just in case we still had a squatter in our attic, but he didn’t think that was so. He repaired the soffits as best he could.

Marty mentioned, “I guess if we decide to sell the house, we’ll have to have that redone.” Our fortress looks a little battered.

(to be continued)

Some Coons Prefer to Break Out (Part 12)

2011-07-19T08:24:00.001-04:00

I called Humane Wildlife Control again.

Jennifer promised to send Chris over the very next day. (Yes, the Wildlife Control people are so much a part of my life, we’re on a first name basis.)

Chris read the footprints on the wall. According to him there are only one set of footprints and they are leading out.

And, the one-way door hasn’t been used.

Chris explained some coons won’t use one-way doors. These coons are rather rare. Chris has only come across about a handful in his five years at the job.

Racoon (part 11)

2011-07-18T13:17:00.001-04:00

Our coon hadn’t left peacefully. In fact we thought maybe she hadn’t left at all. She did considerable damage to the soffits making herself a little passageway. Two inch screws into the frame of the house didn’t defeat her.

Some Laws Don’t Make Sense—Racoons (part 10)

2011-07-15T08:42:00.001-04:00

(continued)

A little later Mrs. Robin Hood came by.

“Your husband knows how to deal with raccoons.” I told her.

“Did he tell you how he does it? He gets them in a cage…hooks them up to an exhaust pipe. Gone.”

I admire this neighbour even though he is breaking the law.

The urban, vandalizing, disease-spreading raccoon has no natural predators. Why do our laws protect him? We must be stupid.

(to be continued)

Knock out the Raccoons (part 9)

2011-07-14T09:35:00.001-04:00

(continued)

Of course our neighbours were curious about our coon warfare. One rather resourceful neighbour, who happened to be pushing his grandchild in a stroller down the sidewalk in front of our house, asked me how it was going.

I told him we were winning.

“You know what I do?” he said.

“What?”

He drew his thumb across his throat and made a croaking sound.

“Oh?”

“Smear a puck of nicotine with butter. They eat that. They are gone. Twenty-four dollars.”

I was in the presence of Robin Hood. I expressed my admiration.

(to be continued)

Raccoons (part 8)

2011-07-13T08:23:00.001-04:00

(continued)

When he was assessing the job, Corry from Humane Wildlife Control told us stories about the damage a coon can do. At one home the owner was looking as $10,000 to redo his entire attic.

This homeowner had been willing to live with coons. He didn’t want to kick out a mom and babies. Well, by the time he called Humane Wildlife Control the mama coon was into her second litter, the insulation was completely flattened, the wires were chewed and there was a truckload of excrement.

Raccoon excrement can be a dangerous thing.

(to be continued)

This is Our House Mrs. Racoon

2011-07-12T08:40:00.002-04:00

(continued)
Just after dusk, when it was impossible to see what was going on up on our roof (of course we don’t own a working flashlight), we heard the one-way door, wire cage rattling. Marty went to bed and right to sleep. Not me. I wanted to get a picture. My camera didn’t capture anything.
So I gave up and went to bed as well. Not the raccoon. That raccoon was determined to get back in. She headed over to the back corner of the house by the girls’ bedrooms. Elizabeth said it sounded like someone slamming a body against the house. You can see the paw prints below. So, that’s why we spent all that money to screw down the soffits!

(to be continued)

Evicting the Raccoon

2011-07-11T10:52:00.003-04:00

(continued)

Two fellows with two trucks came and spend several hours harnessed (it’s the law) to our roof, caging in our vents and screwing down our soffits.

They installed a one-way plexiglass door at the main entranceway. Note the baby hole in the wire on the left side. That’s for the baby coons when the mama coon calls for them.

Then we wait until dusk.

Raccoon in the House (part 5)

2011-07-08T07:53:00.001-04:00

(continued)

Two days later I happened to look up at the soffit and fascia on the second floor just above the garage. Here’s a picture.

Now what?

Obviously a raccoon had made our home her permanent residence. We were dealing with a squatter. I checked out my options on the internet and decided to call Humane Wildlife Control Inc. This, not out of concern for the humane treatment of the coon, but because this company guaranteed their ability to make my home a raccoon-proof fortress.

Soon we all may be wanting such fortresses. If each mama coon continues producing a litter of three of four youngsters until death by automobile or anarchist, humans will shortly be outnumbered.

Personally I think urban coons should be harvested as coonskin caps.

(to be continued)

Raccoon in the Attic (part 4)

2011-07-07T09:35:00.002-04:00

(continued)
We didn’t know if a coon or a whole family of coons was in our attic—or out looking for a quieter home—but we set a wooden block over the vent to protect our fluffy pink insulation against rain.

That night we heard what sounded like a coon breaking out. In the morning we shone our tiny flashlight up around inside the attic. Not an animal in sight. Marty nailed boards down over the roof vent and prepared to call a tradesman to install sturdy metal vents.

The next night Allison heard little footsteps on her bedroom ceiling. “There’s still an animal in our attic.”

Marty and I weren’t entirely prepared to believe her, but held off calling the tradesman.

Possibly there were baby raccoons buried somewhere in the insulation. Should we rescue them? Maybe they would die of starvation. Maybe that would stink.
(to be continued)

Raccoon in the Attic (part 3)

2011-07-06T08:17:00.000-04:00

(continued)

Of course the neighbours needed an explanation.

Then I learned that coons had already been banished from two houses on the street. This could be one of the same.

It occurred to me that if the first neighbour had simply shoot the animal or sent it to a faraway forest, I wouldn’t be having this problem. But most of us on the street are law-abiding citizens and according to the laws of the land it is illegal to shoot a raccoon and it also illegal to move a coon more than a few blocks from it’s natural surroundings.

Of course these laws make sense. What would we do without raccoons in our cities? And if they were sent back to the forest they would surely die fighting a territorial war. Raccoons have rights.

(to be continued)

Animal in the Attic (part 2)

2011-07-05T08:10:00.000-04:00

Upon further investigation I discovered a plastic roof vent smashed. The vent hole open to the sky provided a perfect doorway into our attic. Bits of torn screening hung down the sides.

This had to be the work of a raccoon. Relying on limited experience and urban lore I attempted to handle the situation.

I've heard raccoons don’t like heavy metal music played loudly. I rooted through our CD collection and came up with “The Best of CCR”—the closest thing we own to heavy metal. I put disc 1 in the player which I pushed up through the attic entrance in a bedroom closet ceiling. I cranked up the volume. Then I stood outside on the neighbour’s driveway expecting the coon to pop out of the vent with his paws over his ears. I wish. A raccoon didn’t come out, but the neighbours did.

(to be continued)

Animal in the House

2011-07-04T15:05:00.000-04:00

“There’s an animal in the attic,” reported our children when my husband and I returned from a blissful carefree week of golfing and biking and hiking.

We took this as information. Over the years mice and squirrels have been known to find their way into our attic.

Then, while opening the pool—which includes climbing onto the roof to put plugs on the solar water panels—I noticed what looked to me like bear poop in a roof trough. We had seem similar droppings in a wild blueberry patch up north. These were definitely not mouse turds.

(to be continued)

Question I Had When I Read the Bible

2011-06-29T08:14:00.001-04:00

Q) Why would God move David to count the people when counting the people was actually against His will?

A) God uses a country’s ruler to perform His justice.

Boy, 2 1/2, drowns in back yard pool

2011-06-10T13:52:00.001-04:00

That was the headline in the Hamilton Spectator on Monday and is actually a headline that repeats every spring with slight variations.

It could have been about our family.

Where is the Life Jacket?

The events of the day were determined when little Elizabeth followed me to the edge of the pool that fine spring morning and quietly reminded me about “that thing I put on,” but I ignored her. The previous year we had insisted she always wear a life jacket within the vicinity of the pool.

Maybe it was her caution that lulled me into feeling secure. Besides, I couldn’t remember where I had stored the life jacket. “We’ll have to look for that, later,” I said. Meanwhile, I continued vacuuming a layer of leaves from the bottom of the pool. The pool seemed in good shape this year. It helped that I knew what I was doing. I already had two-thirds of the vacuuming done. The filter was set on “drain” to send this spring debris directly to the sewer and I had a hose with fresh clean water pouring into the pool at the shallow end—a hose which Elizabeth leaned over to examine. “Be careful,” I cautioned. About then I noticed my vacuum had stopped sucking. I examined the vacuum head, then decided to check the filter basket at the pump inside the garage. I didn’t see Elizabeth. I didn’t even think about Elizabeth.

Sure enough the filter basket in the garage was completely clogged. I turned off the pump, pulled out the several handfuls of leaves and started the system up again. Suddenly I remembered Elizabeth. I ran back to the pool in a panic. There she was in the middle of the pool, like a rag doll floating face down. I jumped in and scooped her up, screaming for help. Angela and Allison appeared immediately.

“Call 911! Get Dad!” I commanded. By the time I had Elizabeth to the edge of the pool, Marty was there to perform CPR as if it was something he did every day. I prayed in tongues. It was all I could do. I was in shock.

Within minutes the paramedics arrived. Taking charge, they said we had done all the right things. Full of guilt, I knew that not making the life jacket a priority hadn’t been the right thing at all.

At the hospital nurses took Elizabeth into a room and cut away her little flowered dress. A team of specialists surrounded her. We sat in a waiting area, praying. Pastor Sharon from church prayed with us. She prayed that Elizabeth’s lungs would be whole and well. She prayed that her brain would not be damaged. She prayed that I wouldn’t carry the guilt.

Shortly after that a doctor talked to us. He spoke of possible damage to the lungs. He spoke of a likelihood of brain damage. We told him we had prayed and were believing for those things not to happen.

The next day the doctor approached us, “Well, it looks like you got your miracle. The brain scan shows no damage.” We were elated. Further tests showed that her lungs were clear as well.

On Saturday evening when we finally had Elizabeth home, tucked in bed, Marty and I were relaxing with a coffee in the family room. “I wouldn’t want to go through a week like that, again,” I reflected. Marty agreed.

Was that Elizabeth crying upstairs? Then the door bell rang. I went for the stairs while Marty answered the door.

“Your baby is on the roof!” announced the neighbour at the door. Sure enough Elizabeth had let herself down from the bedroom window onto the latticed deck roof.

I never want to go through a week like that again.

The words “it was credited to him (Abraham)” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. (Romans 4:23—24)

Grace, the grace of God, is what saved us that week. My own righteousness was as limp as a rag doll in the middle of a pool. By His righteousness we could pray and believe for life and health for our little girl. By His grace He answered.

This story can be found in the book, Blooming, This Pilgrim’s Progress.

It’s About Attitude

2011-06-08T09:03:00.001-04:00

I spend a lot of my time doing laundry, driving my children around, cleaning the house, cooking meals, reading novels, sporadically blogging, playing Scrabble, pondering the characters in the novel I’m writing, answering the door and the phone, taking messages and shopping for food for the five people who live here.

‘Was I created for this?’ I asked my Lord—that great big God I serve who made everything, who knows everyone, who loves all and can heal anything.

He brought Micah 6:8 to my attention. Micah 6:8 is that verse every Calvinette Girl’s Club attendee had to memorize and repeat at every weekly meeting from September to April every year.

And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, and to love kindness and mercy, and to humble yourself and walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 Amplified)

It’s all about attitude.

Grand Grandkids

2011-06-06T11:03:00.002-04:00

The grandkids and their mom came to visit from Saskatchewan for a few weeks. There is something wonderfully satisfying about being a Mom’s Mom or Oma. You get all the benefits of hanging around descendants without the responsibility of discipline. I enjoy watching a daughter we spent years directing and guiding, lovingly parenting her children to be the little gaffers we appreciate.

A tea party with the aunts.

A visit to the nation’s capital.

Our visit to Tiffany Falls.

And Albion Falls.

Julie with Aunt Rachel.

Lego.

Soccer.

African Lion Safari.

Sidewalk chalking with Aunt Linda.

Watering Plants.

Reading endless stories.

Arm wrestling with Uncle John.

Our little navigators.

A Skyped Healing

2011-05-25T09:33:00.000-04:00

Recently my friend Bette prayed on Skype for a friend who lives in Cyprus and the friend was immediately healed.

Last year Bette's spiritual mom, a retired oncology nurse, had a cancerous tumour which God healed, but she continued to suffer from residual enlarged lymph nodes in her groin area which caused her leg to swell. Her only relief would be to lie completely flat so the nodes didn't have any pressure on them.

This past March, Bette and her spiritual mom were "skyping" when Bette noticed that her friend continually rubbed her leg. During their one and a half hour conversation, the friend got up to turn off some soup and Bette was shocked at how badly she limped and struggled to walk.

Bette reports, "Before we ended our conversation I felt God wanted me to pray for her—not really the norm for us. We usually end our time saying we will pray for the situations we have discussed or continue to pray for whatever we have been agreeing for, such as family salvations. We had never prayed on skype before.

After concluding the skype session, Bette received this e-mail: "Darling Daughter, As soon as I got up I could walk normally and the pain was almost gone!!! It was your prayer !!! I felt the power of it when you were praying. I am now baking for Sunday church and my leg does not hurt!!! Thank you so much."

Bette says, "I didn't feel any great anointing or that it was a powerful prayer. I love the fact it had nothing to do with me. Just follow the prompt."

Trusting the Lord for Everything

2011-05-19T20:55:00.000-04:00

My friend Phyllis shares this story:
When my car heater wouldn't come on and then the needle on the car temperature gauge climbed up into the red area, I knew I had a problem.

I prayed all the way from Hamilton into Waterdown that Thursday in April. The next day I took my car to the garage. The mechanic said there was probably a leak in the cooling system. He would have time to look at it the following Monday. I decided to find more immediate help.

Who could I trust with my car? I asked several people for advice, but no one knew of anyone in the area. Then the Lord pointed me to a place nearby. Did I want to take my car there? I realized I had to trust the Lord. I put my car in His hands. I believed since my God was in charge I would not be overcharged and the mechanic would do a good job without any unnecessary changes.

When I went back for the car, the mechanic told me the clips that which are suppose to hold the hose had rusted off and all the coolant had drained out.

When I told him I had driven about 25 kilometres he was very surprised. He said my engine could have burnt out without the coolant.

I thank God for keeping me and my car safe. Praise the Lord, He is watching over His beloved.

God Healed my Knee

2011-05-17T20:38:00.000-04:00

One Sunday during worship the pastor prayed for legs to be healed. At the time my knee was acting up. Every time I put weight on my left leg, I would wince with the pain in that knee. As soon as I heard the prayer, my knee was totally healed. It hasn't bothered me since.

Who Sent the Flowers?

2011-05-16T11:58:00.000-04:00

My friend Janine writes:
A couple of Sundays ago we were asked to write something God wanted us to do to reach out to our community.

What came to me was: “Give flowers to Tiziana.”

Monday and Tuesday I wondered how to do that. As Tiziana and I don’t really get along all that well at work, I decided it was necessary to send the flowers anonymously. I ordered tulips with a card that simply said, from: someone who cares!

That week was particularly bad for Tiziana. Her best friend is dying of cancer, so the flowers came on a day she really needed them. The funny thing was that she asked everyone in the office except me if they had bought them for her. Fortunately I was able to play along with the fun as I was able to ask questions and seem as surprised as she was.

Because God had lead me to do this, Tiziana's response was just what I expected. Her whole countenance changed. She said, “It’s nice to know someone cares.” I saw her warm up to the day and the people around her.

Thank you, God.

Spring and Clean (days 9 & 10)

2011-05-11T15:47:00.001-04:00

The day after painting the powder room, I began cleaning the family room. I deep-cleaned and polished the top of the coffee table and attacked a cabinet...purging (a little), rearranging, wiping, polishing.

Then life happened...greeting endless tax clients at the door, helping my daughter in Montreal move, shopping for clothes, celebrating the end of tax season and suddenly it was two weeks later.

Yesterday I finished spring cleaning the family room...if you don't count the mess inside my sewing machine drawers.

I cleaned up the bookshelves and the box of toys under the window seat. I'm getting rid of a whole box of books. My curtains are washed and rehung and miraculously they look better than they did before I washed them...they didn't fad or wrinkle or shrink.

Now on to the living room.

Judgment Day, May 21st 2011?

2011-05-09T19:37:00.001-04:00

Recently while in Montreal with my daughter travelling down Sherbrooke Street we were detoured along with a million other crawling cars over to St. Catharines Street where much to our amusement (which soon turned into irritation) we were trapped beside a caravan of trucks and trailers painted with words and pictures about the end of the world, predicted to be on May 21st 2011...coming very soon to this world. A very loud shofar continuously blasting through the loudspeaker atop of one of the vans made it impossible to ignore the message.

After about four blocks, our vehicle was rerouted back to Sherbrooke Street and the shofar faded as the caravan continued along St. Catharines Street.

If you google 'end of the world May 21st' you will see just how seriously this prediction is being taken by a number of people. In fact just this past weekend in Toronto, my husband and I were again confronted with the idea when a young fellow carrying a sign proclaiming the end of the world on May 21st tried to hand me a flyer.

I should have taken it. Then I might have been able to tell you what Biblical support these people have for their belief.

I do believe the world will end and I believe that time is coming soon, most likely not May 21 this year, but possibly in this generation or the next. The wars and rumours of wars and earthquakes and natural disasters are all around us.

Is that going to cause me to live any differently?

I am So Grateful for (in random order):

2011-05-06T19:08:00.001-04:00

The Bible, in many translations, available to read all the time

An efficient washer and dryer especially during a muddy soccer season

Children who love me

The people my children married

Grandchildren

Ice cream

My husband

Fresh air

Trees

Indoor plumbing

Internet

Euchre games

A God who loves me

Jesus who died for me

My book, Blooming

Holidays

My church family

A comfortable house

Taste buds

People who play Scrabble with me

My glasses

My skin

My eyes

My hair

The way God designed the human body (so practical). Imagine if you mouth was on your ankle or your behind was on top of your head.

Books to read

Pictures to look at

Camping experiences

Golf

Skiing

Grass

Hearing

Tea

Paper

Paper clips

My bed

Good-night

Why Do You Love Me?

2011-04-29T13:41:00.001-04:00

The other morning I told the Lord I loved Him. I do that sometimes. Usually when I say that I hear in my spirit, "Feed my sheep." Then I spend time wondering which sheep and what mix of food to feed them. Then I try to keep my eyes open for hungry sheep. Encouragement is a tasty morsel.

This time I heard a question, "Why do you love Me?"

I thought about this for a while. "I love You because I can trust You."

"Why do you trust Me?"

"I trust You because You know the truth, because You are the Truth. You know everything and everyone and all of our motives. That makes me feel very secure and much loved."

Spring and Cleaning (day 8)

2011-04-28T13:02:00.001-04:00

Gave the powder room a second coat of tan paint. Nailed the trim back in place. It's a whole new place...warm and inviting.

But, as my husband remarked, nothing to get too excited about. It's only a powder room after all. According to dictionary.com a powder room is "a room containing a toilet and washing facilities for women; lavatory." I guess that's why my husband is not jumping up and down with enthusiasm.

Maybe I'll rename it. Why should I let the sales clerk in the paint store name my downstairs washroom simply by writing 'powder room' on the paint cans?

I'm calling it, "The Tan John."

Now on to the next project.

Spring and Cleaning (day 7)

2011-04-26T22:07:00.000-04:00

Today I painted my hands and my clothes and the downstairs washroom known as the powder room to the saleslady in the paint store who wrote that on the lids of the two quarts of tan-coloured flat paint she estimated I needed to paint a 6 1/2' x 2 1/2' x 8' high room.

It didn't take long to paint, after I filled the holes and sanded and washed the walls and removed the towel rack, the toilet paper holder, the cupboard handles, the trim around the door and the baseboards and taped the edges of the counter.

Spring and Cleaning (day 6)

2011-04-25T10:26:00.000-04:00

Things are now out of control. I washed the walls in the downstairs washroom which lead to ripping down the wallpaper border which means I have to repaint the walls, but before I can do that I have to patch the holes.

Spring and Cleaning (day 5 – Good Friday)

2011-04-22T14:49:00.003-04:00

You may wonder why I’m working on Good Friday. When I asked myself that it came to mind that Jesus did His most difficult work on Good Friday.

Today the thing that I feared happened. This is the reason I try to avoid spring cleaning. Well, one of the reasons. Dissatisfaction set in.

Up until now I have been ignoring the condition of my kitchen cupboards. This is impossible to continue to do. Now that I have washed out the insides and cleaned the outsides with Murphy’s Oil and shone them up with a bit of Teak oil, the truth is painfully clear.

My 40-year-old standard contractor particle board cupboards with the thin oak veneer finish are finished. They are rotting on the inside, the doors are sagging and you get the picture. We have decided to replace them.

Spring and Cleaning (day 4)

2011-04-21T18:12:00.000-04:00

My, those bottom cupboards were dirty. Two hours of scrubbing and I still have two cupboards to go.

Spring and Cleaning (day 3)

2011-04-20T16:55:00.000-04:00

My kitchen is officially half clean...the top half...well I haven't cleaned the light fixture yet or the pantry cupboard, but it's almost officially half clean. At this rate it may not be all clean at the same time.

Spring and Cleaning (day 2)

2011-04-19T21:58:00.000-04:00

I cleaned the stove, the dishwasher, the microwave and two cupboards. Such a slow process this is.

Spring Cleaning

2011-04-18T20:51:00.001-04:00

Today I cleaned out my fridge.

Tomorrow?

Like Husband, Like Wife

2011-04-13T08:45:00.000-04:00

(continued from previous post)
Then, two weeks later after dropping my niece off at her home in Westdale, I backed out of her laneway onto the narrow street and BANG. I backed right into a car parked on the opposite side of the street.
My stomach felt sick, considerably sicker than two weeks previous. My first impulse was to pretend that this hadn’t happened and drive off. But it had, and I knew I would have difficulty living with myself as a hit-and-runner. I pulled back into the driveway, found some paper in my purse and wrote, “Sorry, I’m the one who backed into your car. I wrote my name and number. I tucked it under the windshield wiper.

That was two weeks ago. The damaged-car owner hasn’t as yet phoned. The police haven’t phoned. Every time the phone rings, my heart races.
We are driving a van with identical dents in the left and right corners of the bumper. But, as my husband likes to point out, the left dent is just a tad deeper.

Bad Things Happen to Good People

2011-04-12T13:46:00.004-04:00

Recently after a snowfall and during a rainfall on the way to a church meeting we stopped by to pick up a friend at her house. My husband Marty was driving. He backed out of our friend’s laneway right into a parked car. The bang came as a rude shock. Up to that evening there had never been cars parked there on that narrow one-way street.

We placed a note under the wiper on the windshield of the damaged car and continued on our way. That night it snowed.

The next day the police phoned asking for my husband. The owner of the car had called the police as soon as he saw his dented door. Upon examining the interior of the car, the policeman discovered my husband’s note pressed up against the windshield where it was buried under several inches of icy snow.

The policeman thanked Marty for leaving the note (many wouldn’t he said). He asked about the conditions that evening and decided not to lay charges due to the circumstances.

Marty settled with the owner for the considerable repair bill and we are driving in a van with a large dent on the right corner of our bumper. They don’t make bumper’s like they used to.

Personally I was grateful that my husband had been driving that evening, because I knew but for the grace of God, that could have been me. I think Marty would have difficulty understanding how such a thing could happen if he hadn’t experienced it first hand.

(to be continued)

Jill's Questions

2011-04-07T19:03:00.000-04:00

(continued from previous posts)

I have many questions. How is God moving in my life through all this? Is He teaching me that I can follow Him, trust Him and serve Him just as I am, the way He made me? That He loves me unconditionally? Is He saying that I should accept what He has for me without being awkward about it? Did I pass a test and get a crown?

Truthfully I don't have the answers. He is meeting me and it feels good. Nothing compares to playing on the beach with Jesus! That was awesome.

Jill Has a Glimpse of Heaven

2011-04-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

(continued from previous posts)

More recently during a quiet time with the Lord I (Jill) experienced a level of elevated thinking as I have never felt before. I was not dreaming. My mind rose above the mundane, through a secondary level and then to a third level of intimacy with God.

Jesus met me again on that same beach. This time He left the platform and we began playing a game of tag and then running along the beach with the wind blowing and the spray from the ocean washing over us.

After that Jesus invited me to come up onto the platform. Once again He placed a crown on my head. This time it fit perfectly. It was beautiful with ermine around the bottom, like a royal crown. This time I did not object.

Then Jesus led me behind the throne where God was sitting I felt pretty nervous, but just followed along.

We stopped in front of two very tall wooden doors. Jesus told me to open them and look inside. Still nervous but knowing better than to say “no” from past experience, I opened them wide.

On the other side was a most beautiful forever view of blue sky and clouds so beautiful it took my breath away. I believe this was a glimpse of heaven.

(to be continued)