(continued from previous post)
“My keys were on the couch where I dropped them,” she said. Your things were also on the couch,” she went on to say.
I knew I didn’t have her keys, but I wanted to be kind, and so chose my words carefully, “Sooooo, I should check my coat pockets, I suppose.” Phone in hand, I walked over to the closet. I checked each coat pocket—twice, for good measure. “They aren’t here, Kim,” I said kindly, although she might have detected a touch of ‘I knew I didn’t have them’ in my voice.
“When I have keys in my hand, I drop them into my purse,” I said trying to re-create a scene that obviously didn’t happen.
I took my purse off the shelf in the front closet and set it on the table. “So, I’ll check my purse,” I said to Kim.
“They are a big bunch of keys with a green Sobey’s card attached,” she said helpfully.
(continued)
Monday, January 4, 2010
Key Saga, Part 1 - Who Stole Kim’s Keys?
Kim told me she had a reputation for leaving her keys in random places. She told me about the time she went to the mall with her mother and sister. After their shopping expedition, Kim wanted to unlock her car, when she realized she didn’t have her keys. She believed she had dropped her very substantial key ring with its half dozen keys somewhere in the mall.
She backtracked through the various malls stores at double quick pace, hoping to discover the keys before the mall locked up for the evening. Miraculously, just before closing time she found her keys behind a bench in a dressing room in one of the many stores she had visited earlier.
I knew Kim had a problem with keys. So why did she think I had her keys? This was a real stretch. Kim phoned me at 8:50 one Tuesday morning to ask me if I—who happened to be in her home the evening previous with three others—had her keys.
Why would I have her keys?
(continued)
She backtracked through the various malls stores at double quick pace, hoping to discover the keys before the mall locked up for the evening. Miraculously, just before closing time she found her keys behind a bench in a dressing room in one of the many stores she had visited earlier.
I knew Kim had a problem with keys. So why did she think I had her keys? This was a real stretch. Kim phoned me at 8:50 one Tuesday morning to ask me if I—who happened to be in her home the evening previous with three others—had her keys.
Why would I have her keys?
(continued)
Friday, January 1, 2010
10 Things I Learned (again) This Holiday Season
1. If not planning to stir the food in the crockpot, sprinkle (don’t toss) the salt in.
2. Only lock your car with the handy dandy button on the door, if you are absolutely sure the key is in your possession.
3. If you use Cutco knives, keep your fingertips away from the sharp edge of the blade.
4. Don’t pick a fight with your husband just before he sets out to shop for your Christmas present.
5. To see your daughter say her parts in the Christmas play you have to get there on time.
6. A homemade gingerbread house is bigger and tastes better than a perfect little kit house.
7. If you don’t water the real cut-down-yourself-so-it-will-be-fresh Christmas tree the needles start falling off.
8. I love Christmastime.
9. If you don’t have a plan you could be home alone with your husband on New Year’s Eve.
10. Being home alone with your husband on New Year’s Eve can be exciting. (We watched Canada win the World Junior Canada/US hockey game and we played a Wii golf game.)
2. Only lock your car with the handy dandy button on the door, if you are absolutely sure the key is in your possession.
3. If you use Cutco knives, keep your fingertips away from the sharp edge of the blade.
4. Don’t pick a fight with your husband just before he sets out to shop for your Christmas present.
5. To see your daughter say her parts in the Christmas play you have to get there on time.
6. A homemade gingerbread house is bigger and tastes better than a perfect little kit house.
7. If you don’t water the real cut-down-yourself-so-it-will-be-fresh Christmas tree the needles start falling off.
8. I love Christmastime.
9. If you don’t have a plan you could be home alone with your husband on New Year’s Eve.
10. Being home alone with your husband on New Year’s Eve can be exciting. (We watched Canada win the World Junior Canada/US hockey game and we played a Wii golf game.)
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Gleaned from Christmas Letters…
Life is a journey.
Justin also completed the Boston marathon on April 20, five days before Joseph (his son) was born. Needless to say, we were all relieved when Justin returned home!
We gave Ryan a set of drums for his birthday, and he faithfully plays them every day….He has music in his bones.
As proud grandparents, we can unabashedly say that he is the most handsome little boy you could ever imagine.
Turkeys require a lot of care and monitoring when they are young, but as they grow they become increasingly “impossible to kill.”
The five youngest kids are doing great. They all averaged over 80% first term—awesome! So, they get a box of Smarties for being so smart.
By the time July hit, we were more than ready to get outside and enjoy the summer, but unfortunately, it never really showed up this year.
Anco had a little altercation with a chainsaw and sustained a nasty cut just above his left knee.
We didn’t go anywhere this year.
Live is not without challenges.
I'll cook a Butterball Turkey for anyone who can correctly identify the author of any five of the above.
Justin also completed the Boston marathon on April 20, five days before Joseph (his son) was born. Needless to say, we were all relieved when Justin returned home!
We gave Ryan a set of drums for his birthday, and he faithfully plays them every day….He has music in his bones.
As proud grandparents, we can unabashedly say that he is the most handsome little boy you could ever imagine.
Turkeys require a lot of care and monitoring when they are young, but as they grow they become increasingly “impossible to kill.”
The five youngest kids are doing great. They all averaged over 80% first term—awesome! So, they get a box of Smarties for being so smart.
By the time July hit, we were more than ready to get outside and enjoy the summer, but unfortunately, it never really showed up this year.
Anco had a little altercation with a chainsaw and sustained a nasty cut just above his left knee.
We didn’t go anywhere this year.
Live is not without challenges.
I'll cook a Butterball Turkey for anyone who can correctly identify the author of any five of the above.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
A Review of Blooming (Christian Courier 9/11/09)
Book Review:
Blooming—This Pilgrim’s Progress, Marian den Boer
By Heidi VanderSlikke
Long time Christian Courier readers will remember Marian den Boer’s column, Slice of Bread, from the days when Bert Witvoet was CC editor the first time around. In her energetic, good-natured style, Marian wrote then about the joys and challenges of her life as a Christian wife and mother in Hamilton, Ontario. The fact that I still remember some of her columns a decade later attests to the sincerity and broad appeal of her writing.
Her book, Blooming—This Pilgrim’s Progress, uses some of those earlier columns to provide a more intimate look into the heart of this gregarious pilgrim. But it’s more than a collection of her previous work. With the enhanced vision of hindsight and a deep desire for truthful self-examination, Marian tells us familiar stories with new insights, adding further adventures as well.
She punctuates each vignette with reflections on her personal responsibilities, motives, mistakes and flaws, sometimes with brutal honesty. She includes appropriate scripture verses and contemplates her relationship with God, candidly speculating on what lessons the Holy Spirit might have in mind for her through each of these episodes of daily life. She groups the stories within two sections –Old Testimony and New Testimony.
Marian, you see, has had a profound spiritual experience—a watershed event which launched her headlong into a quest to live the Christian faith wholeheartedly. She poignantly captures the essence of her struggles with self-righteousness, pride and independence in a piece titled Psalm 51 As it Happened to Me. From that point forward Marian determined to live with a finger constantly on her spiritual pulse.
As is often the case, her personal strengths are also her weaknesses. The key for the child of God is to make every thought captive for Christ. In this process Marian’s quirks and shortcomings are easy to relate to. We’ve all been there, if we dare to admit it to ourselves.
Her headstrong attitude and fearless personality often lead to escapades that make a reader laugh out loud. Picture this slender homemaker suddenly face to face with a kitchen full of huge firefighters, all because she got a little overzealous about the possibility of carbon monoxide in the house. Or there was the time when she turned a telemarketer’s call into an opportunity for evangelism. Any parent of teenagers will smile knowingly at Marian’s anecdotes about teaching her daughter to drive, all the while developing a retroactive empathy for her own driving instructor.
Her stories run the spectrum from hilarious to heart-wrenching. For the sake of consistency, all are treated with brevity. Perhaps in the future Marian will revisit some of the deeper issues she raises incidentally. No doubt she has wisdom to share on such matters as dealing with a teenager’s depression, a death in the family, or the trauma of nearly losing a child to drowning in the backyard pool. And I wouldn’t be surprised if she someday writes a more contemplative book about the impact of a charismatic encounter on the life of a born and bred Calvinist.
For now, Marian’s spunky anthology is engaging, amusing and thought provoking. It’s the kind of book you can pick up while waiting for the potatoes to boil, but you probably won’t want to put it down when it’s time to eat supper. The lilies on the cover aptly remind us of God’s ability to work the mundane into something marvelous, and how, in spite of our best efforts, it’s only by his Holy Spirit that we can truly experience the joy of blooming.
-----
den Boer, Marian. Blooming—This Pilgrim’s Progress. Winnipeg: Word Alive Press, 2009.
$19.99 Cdn.
Available from bookstores everywhere.
Blooming—This Pilgrim’s Progress, Marian den Boer
By Heidi VanderSlikke
Long time Christian Courier readers will remember Marian den Boer’s column, Slice of Bread, from the days when Bert Witvoet was CC editor the first time around. In her energetic, good-natured style, Marian wrote then about the joys and challenges of her life as a Christian wife and mother in Hamilton, Ontario. The fact that I still remember some of her columns a decade later attests to the sincerity and broad appeal of her writing.
Her book, Blooming—This Pilgrim’s Progress, uses some of those earlier columns to provide a more intimate look into the heart of this gregarious pilgrim. But it’s more than a collection of her previous work. With the enhanced vision of hindsight and a deep desire for truthful self-examination, Marian tells us familiar stories with new insights, adding further adventures as well.
She punctuates each vignette with reflections on her personal responsibilities, motives, mistakes and flaws, sometimes with brutal honesty. She includes appropriate scripture verses and contemplates her relationship with God, candidly speculating on what lessons the Holy Spirit might have in mind for her through each of these episodes of daily life. She groups the stories within two sections –Old Testimony and New Testimony.
Marian, you see, has had a profound spiritual experience—a watershed event which launched her headlong into a quest to live the Christian faith wholeheartedly. She poignantly captures the essence of her struggles with self-righteousness, pride and independence in a piece titled Psalm 51 As it Happened to Me. From that point forward Marian determined to live with a finger constantly on her spiritual pulse.
As is often the case, her personal strengths are also her weaknesses. The key for the child of God is to make every thought captive for Christ. In this process Marian’s quirks and shortcomings are easy to relate to. We’ve all been there, if we dare to admit it to ourselves.
Her headstrong attitude and fearless personality often lead to escapades that make a reader laugh out loud. Picture this slender homemaker suddenly face to face with a kitchen full of huge firefighters, all because she got a little overzealous about the possibility of carbon monoxide in the house. Or there was the time when she turned a telemarketer’s call into an opportunity for evangelism. Any parent of teenagers will smile knowingly at Marian’s anecdotes about teaching her daughter to drive, all the while developing a retroactive empathy for her own driving instructor.
Her stories run the spectrum from hilarious to heart-wrenching. For the sake of consistency, all are treated with brevity. Perhaps in the future Marian will revisit some of the deeper issues she raises incidentally. No doubt she has wisdom to share on such matters as dealing with a teenager’s depression, a death in the family, or the trauma of nearly losing a child to drowning in the backyard pool. And I wouldn’t be surprised if she someday writes a more contemplative book about the impact of a charismatic encounter on the life of a born and bred Calvinist.
For now, Marian’s spunky anthology is engaging, amusing and thought provoking. It’s the kind of book you can pick up while waiting for the potatoes to boil, but you probably won’t want to put it down when it’s time to eat supper. The lilies on the cover aptly remind us of God’s ability to work the mundane into something marvelous, and how, in spite of our best efforts, it’s only by his Holy Spirit that we can truly experience the joy of blooming.
-----
den Boer, Marian. Blooming—This Pilgrim’s Progress. Winnipeg: Word Alive Press, 2009.
$19.99 Cdn.
Available from bookstores everywhere.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Blog Bog
Christmas means all sorts of seasonal activities: shopping, wrapping, decorating, card sending, visiting, special lunches and dinners, school programs, baking, socials, pot lucks and exercising self-control.
My relatively insignificant seasonal activities are my human attempt to recognize the significance of Christ's sacrifice. Christmas really means Christ came to save us.
To more fully appreciate the season this year, I am limiting time spent in the virtual world. Real world here I am.
Merry Christmas blog readers and see you again next year.
My relatively insignificant seasonal activities are my human attempt to recognize the significance of Christ's sacrifice. Christmas really means Christ came to save us.
To more fully appreciate the season this year, I am limiting time spent in the virtual world. Real world here I am.
Merry Christmas blog readers and see you again next year.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Tree Decorating of Christmas Past
Above: Tree cutting 2008.Tomorrow we will be heading out to harvest our Christmas tree. Going to the fields to choose and cut our tree has become an extension of the den Boer family Christmas tree decorating tradition.
Here's a link to a nostaltic look at our 1986 family tree-decorating experience. Back then just getting the tree set up in the living room with lights and ornaments provided as much excitment as our family could handle.
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