Grand Grandkids

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

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

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

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?

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)

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?

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):

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