It has been a long time since I have written on my blog.  Many things going on in my life and just the strain of trying to figure them all out has taken my motivation away from writing.  My life has many changes in the wings and I am just trying to sort them all out and see how everything fits together.  I am so happy Spring is on its way, although we had a snowstorm here on Friday night.  Lots of rain this week with some snow I am sure.  I am really looking forward to the future with a renewed anticipation.  Lots of change in the wind, but I am at peace with the direction I am heading and know that it will all work out.  Life is an adventure and I can hardly wait to see what is around the next bend in the road! 

1.   My favorite colour is green.

2.   I would rather read a book than travel.

3.   My favorite food is potatoes in any style, shape or concoction!

4.   I hate mornings.

5.   I wish I didn’t have to eat but could take a “pill” to get rid of being hungry.

6.   I am insanely afraid of “bees” and “grasshoppers”…just ask Greg Plett!

It’s been awhile since I have posted.  Life has been busy and stressful…lots of new things to embrace.  Tamara is home for a few weeks, so that is great!  It changes the atmosphere in our home immensely which is nice.  We are heading to Calgary for a few days with Matt and Jesika.  That will be fun, just hanging out and doing whatever.  I am really looking forward to that.  Jerry and I have not done any winter holidays this year and we are showing the wear!  Doing some good reflecting and reading during this Lenten Season.  James Houston put together a couple of volumes for daily reading from the writers and authors of “old”.  Reading some of Amy Carmichael who was a missionary to India and spent the last 20 years of her life confined to her room as an invalid.  It has made me appreciate that I can still get up and go to work and enjoy the day.  Often I feel overwhelmed with life around me, but I stop to just look at the bright sky, enjoy the sun coming up in the East, and enjoy the sparkling snow under the bright sun.  It has been raining and it has been icy cold, but I can still walk, talk, eat and enjoy life.  God is good!

It is hard to believe how cold it is when it gets this cold.  I do have to say that I do enjoy the sun on these cold crisp days.  This morning the sky in the east was pink, the sun bright, and the snow sparkled with diamonds.  Having said that, the moment you step out of the car the cold goes right through any kind of coat you may have on.  You don’t want to walk for any length of time with your cheeks to the wind…they will be frozen within minutes.  There is nothing more cozy than a warm house on a cold winter’s night with a good book on Eastern Religions and a good cup of tea.  My sister Joanne and her husband Dwight are basking in sunny Kauai.  I must admit they picked an awesome time to be away.  Oh to be dealing with a sunburn instead of windburn from the wind!!!

Jerry and I headed out to Credit Union Centre on Friday evening to enjoy my birthday gift to myself…tickets to hear and see Michael Buble.  To say the concert was amazing is an understatement and it was an evening of great music, laughter and entertainment.  Michael does a great job at providing an evening of entertainment which is above and beyond.  The lighting effects were in themselves a show to behold!  The opening group of Natural 7 was absolutely innovative and musically talented beyond belief.  This group of 7 men put on a concert with full band accompaniment without using a musical instrument…they produced all the instrumental accompaniment with their voices.  It was great!  What a wonderful evening and so good to be away from the “rat race” of life and all its stresses and to enjoy a great evening of great music and great company…my one and only amazing husband Jerry!

I finished this book tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it…especially the last 3 chapters.  I loved the chapter on “Get the Handle Scandal Manual!”  He wrote alot about sponsorships and the whole Gomery Inquiry.  I love his partisanship and his “shoot from the hip” style of writing.  You don’t have to guess where he stands on any issue.  Very refreshing!  I also enjoyed the chapter on “Get Modern!”.  This is all about the internet including blogging.  He includes Ten Reasons Why Internet Bloggy Stuff is Pretty Important and the one I appreciated the most was

“They’re (Bloggers) Proudly Biased!  Fair’s Fair:  I don’t think the traditional news media are wrong, necessarily to aspire to journalistic objectivity.  I just think—like most citizens—that the media are laughable when they actually believe it.  To put a fine point on it, ‘journalistic objectivity’ is more than an oxymoron.  It’s unadulterated bullshit…Suggesting that media objetivity is possible is more than wrong—it insults peoples’  intelligence.  And it’s yet another reason why blogs have become so popular in such a short time.”

He finished his book with “Get Fighting”…a great ending.  In reading this book I felt his passion and belief in what he was saying.  Some great insights written with “spit and fire”.  Great read!  Thanks to Jordon and Wendy for this great Christmas gift.

Welcome to 2008!  We brought the new year in with friends and then promptly drove home to drop into bed.  We actually didn’t get up until 9:00 am, which is unheard of for Jerry!  Matt and Jesika headed back to Calgary and arrived home safely.

Christmas was great!  Matt and Jesika came home on December 22nd and stayed until today.  They did not anticipate staying that long, but Matt came down with the same cold/flu I have been fighting since December 19th, so we did not do much, but nurse our coughs; take drugs for our fever and chills; and blow our noses.  I have to admit I am very tired of this sickness and am not impressed that I have been sick the whole time of my holidays.  Having said all that, we did have some fun times watching movies, playing games and just hanging out!  Niko and Griffin were along so Jerry had the privilege of going along for their daily run in the country, which he thinks kept him from coming down with the “cold/flu” although he was fighting it as well.

 I am not sure what 2008 will bring.  I purposely did not make any New Year’s Resolutions!  It is much more fun to see what life brings your way rather than perhaps purposely going in the wrong direction by setting goals and New Year’s Resolutions!  Some would call this a “faith” walk while others would call it purposeless stupidity.  I have learned that if I had “goaled” out my life I would have never experienced or be where I am today, as my course as taken me places I would have never dreamed of.  That is what makes life exciting.

Matt and Jesika both gave me a unique gift this Christmas.  On my blog a couple of months ago I had asked people to respond to some questions I was looking for feedback from.  They both gave me their responses as a “gift”.  I so appreciated their honesty and candor as I know it is not easy to respond to such questions when the “asker” is your mom and your mother-in-law.  It has been very interesting to see a similar thread through each of the responses.  It has been a very good exercise for me and I will continue to ruminate on each response.  I am still waiting for my response from Jerry!!!  He keeps telling me that he responds to those things every day and I am just not listening.  There is probably a lot of truth in that response!

To each of you who wander over to this blog may the year 2008 be one of learning and new experiences.  My life is just that…my life! 

I have done some reading these past days.  I usually have a few books on the go at the same time…here is what I am reading

“I Am Hutterite” by Mary-Ann Kirby.  What an amazing book!  She lives in Prince Albert and she grew up and resided in Hutterite Colonies around where I grew up and then when her family left the Colony they moved to farms very close to where we lived.  A great book on the Hutterite culture and a great book on forgiveness.  I picked it up at McNally Robinson and it well worth the read.

“The War Room” by Warren Kinsella…a gift from Jordon and Wendy Cooper.  I am nearly through this book as well.  I have thoroughly enjoyed it as I really enjoy politics and Warren Kinsella has such a sense of humour.  I also loved it because it is Canadian politics and he uses many stories which makes it so interesting.  He also gives a good look at what goes on behind the scenes.  He is also very practical as he breaks it down into ten lessons which can be applied to lots of different organizations.  Very good!

“Jesus through the Centuries” by Jaroslav Pelikan…a book given to me by Chris Garner.  This is more of a textbook, but very good read.  I have to read slowly and often re-read, but some great learning.  “To borrow the distinction of Werner Elert, alongside the “dogma of Christ” there has always been the “image of Christ.” Jesus through the Centuries is a history of the “image or [or images] of Christ.”  This quote pretty well sums up the purpose of the book. 

I received The One Year Chronological Bible which I hope to get through…not necessarily in one year but however long it takes.  Last time I read through the Bible in one year it took me 4 years, so this might be the same, who knows!  I was perusing through Isaiah and Jeremiah this week and realized how much I missed the Old Testament.  The past while I have spent much time in the New Testament, but I long to get back to some of those amazing passages in the Old Testament.

I have made no timeline for this reading and I have at least 20 other books that I have not begun to read, but I will get to them.  I received my copy of “The Contemplative Pastor” by Eugene Peterson the other day from Amazon…a book recommended by Jordon Cooper when he responded to my questions…so I do listen to those around me.

I always love to hear what others are reading, so let me know what is on your priority list when it comes to 2008.

Well I have been 60 for a week now and I really don’t feel that much different.  I still think lots, laugh and still anticipate living for another 60 years.  I had an amazing birthday weekend as Jerry, Kristy and Alyson surprised me with Matt, my sister Joanne, her husband Dwight and daughter Tenaya, and my sister Doris and her husband Lorne, by having a surprise birthday lunch for me last Friday at Alexanders.  I had told Jerry “no party” if he wanted to continue living, but I was totally surprised and thoroughly thrilled to have my family here for the weekend.  We had a great time just hanging out, laughing, eating, celebrating with cake and friends as well on Saturday, and just being together.  I am anticipating some great days ahead.  It feels good to be where I am in life, and as I told my friend Alyson this morning, I am in a good place in life and so thankful that I can look ahead with great anticipation to further learning, growing and change.  I don’t know what the future holds, but I will attempt to live each day to its fullest…even if it is just reading a good book with a great cup of coffee!  It is the simple pleasures in life that make it so good!

What in your life is calling you?

When all the noise is silenced,

the meetings adjourned,

the lists laid aside,

and the wild Iris blooms by itself

in the dark forest,

what still pulls your soul?

In the silence between your heartbeats

Hides a summons.

My good friend Dick Groot provided me with the following quote, which put into words so much of what I was working through.  Hope it helps you as well… 

The need to prove that we exist as someone of substance – be it good or bad – is the only reason we experience conflict and reactionary behavior.  Whenever conflict arises, the need to prove has been set in motion. Whenever the need to prove is set in motion , we can be sure that our experience is underlain by doubt.  After all, when we know something to be a truth, we have no need to make that truth heard, understood, believed or acknowledged by anyone.

This understanding is the foundation upon which we begin our investigation; conflict = the need to prove = proof of doubt.  This equation, as a starting point for the investigation of self, immediately gives birth to a new perspective on blame and victim-consciousness. This focus sets in motion the regressive process of bringing to consciousness all the self-defeating, self-rejecting beliefs that prevent us from being fully present as the whole and complete being who we really are.

Conflict always denotes the need to prove.  The need to prove always denotes doubt. Where there is doubt, the truth is absent. Where there is conflict, there is self-doubt.  This means that conflict is the indicator that the true self is absent from our consciousness.  We are ignorant of our true being.  While ignorance of self persists, we remain incapable of fully engaging with life.  This means that the investigation of conflict is the gateway to conscious living.

–