Time really Flies

My apologies for not contributing to this blog for a long period of time.



My husband reached his three score and ten, so had a big party with more than eighty people coming by to help him celebrate this milestone. We are very thankful for his good health and zest for life.



Two days from now, my first grandaughter is getting married, so needless to say, we have been in wedding planning mode for the last several months. Seems like just a few years ago when I held that tiny little bundle in my arms and now she is walking down the aisle to share her life with the man she loves.

I have done flowers for many, many brides, but this is most exciting to design beautiful bouquets in her favorite colors of pink and blue, so I must get busy.



So no theological rhetoric today, but as I am working with flowers, my mind and heart are filled with many emotions, hopes, and dreams for them. I hold them up in prayer to my heavenly father who loves them even more than I do.

The Prairies

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Winnipeg.

There is something beautiful about the wide open prairies. Even though I was only 3 years old when my parents moved from Saskatchewan, my roots are there. So I feel a connection and a bit of nostalgia sweeps over me whenever we pass through, but I would not want to live there.

The BIG skydome covering the vast flat land conjures up feelings of awe and wonder and loneliness. A simple, fresh earthiness prevades. The huge fields of wheat, canola, rye and sunflowers speak of endless hours of hard toil and labor. Dusty little towns look hauntingly sad. There is an unforgiving harshness in the sweltering heat and in the never-ending strong wind that blows sand and snow over the plains.

We saw many abandoned, weathered old buildings such as this one. I wonder what kind of stories this old house could tell?

In the 1930's and 1940's my grandparents and many of my kin experienced unbelievable hardships on this land.
As we travelled the straight endless highway, two such instances came to mind.

On a beautiful winter day, my aunt and her daughter set out to visit their neighbours. They travelled over the snow in a horse-drawn caboose (like a boler trailer on skis). During their visit, they noticed storm clouds forming and decided to head for home. The drifting snow became so blinding that they lost their way. The next morning they were discovered only a short distance from their home, both frozen to death. In my mother's old family album is a little black & white snapshot of them both lying in a home-made coffin. How incredibly sad.

My grandparents, with ten children, travelled on foot from Manitoba to Saskatchewan. A team of horses pulled a wagon with their milk cow in tow. The children took turns walking and riding. At night, Grandma and the girls slept under the wagon part that was canvas covered, while Grandpa and the boys slept under the wagon. After endless miles, a wagon wheel broke. They were tired, discouraged, and alone. With no one in sight, little money, and little food they felt overwhelming despair.
In their distress, they cried out to God for help. They waited..........
As the young boys were walking down the road, kicking stones, a sudden gust of wind blew across their path. Amongst the dust and leaves was a small piece of paper. Imagine their amazement when they realized it was a ten dollar bill. I wish I could have been there to witness the family's rejoicing over this miracle that God had sent. Now they had money to get the wheel fixed!

Over the years they experienced many other hardships on the prairies, but this happening always reminded them that God is faithful.

A Timely Message

In the preface to the "The Message" (the Bible in contemporary language) the author Eugene Peterson says... he taught the biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek in a theological seminary. He expected to live the rest of his life as a professor and scholar, teaching and writing and studying. But then his life took a sudden vocational turn to pastoring a congregation. He was plunged into a different world. Nobody seemed to care much about the Bible, many knew virtually nothing about it, had never read it, and weren't interested in learning. Many others had spent years reading it but for them it had gone flat through familiarity, reduced to cliches. Bored, they dropped it. They found newspapers and magazines, videos and pulp fiction more to their taste.
He saw a great need for getting an understandable version to his congregation and so after ten years of arduous work, "The Message" was born and published.

My reading through the book of Romans took on new meaning when I read Chapter 12 the way Peterson interprets it. I wrote in my journal, "This is for me!!!"


vs. 8 ...if you help, just help, don't take over......if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy. (ouch)

Just can't miss that message!

New Old Song

Faithful one, so unchanging,
Ageless one, you're my rock of peace.
Lord of all, I depend on you;
I call out to you again and again.

I have always loved this song. It was sung at a funeral I attended today, by two very talented young people.
At the onset of the next part of the song, their voices literally exploded,
"blew me out of the water".... moved me to tears.

YOU ARE MY ROCK IN TIMES OF TROUBLE!
YOU LIFT ME UP WHEN I FALL DOWN!
ALL THROUGH THE STORM YOUR LOVE IS THE ANCHOR!
MY HOPE IS IN YOU ALONE!

It was truly a moment of praise and worship.
Thank you Jackie & Nate

Who Am I

In this case, it's not the game, Who AM I, but the first line of a song.

A secluded lakeside campsite, a comfortable reclining lawnchair, pinescented warm desert breezes, afternoon shade, the bluest sky...birds twittering, ospreys diving for fish, canoes gliding over the calm water. Ah.

Drinking in the incredible beauty and the vastness of God's creation made me feel so small.

This very well-written song came to mind.

Who am I? That the Lord of all the earth, would care to know my name ,
would care to feel my hurt?
Who am I? That the bright and morning star, would choose to light the way,
for my ever wandering heart.

Not because of who I am, but because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done, but because of who you are.

I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean, a vapor in the wind,
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord you catch me when I'm falling and you've told me who I am.
I am yours.

written by Hall, John Mark & Casting Crowns

A Lilac Lesson

Lilacs are special to me. Why? The fragrance is intoxicating. I am told that on the day my parents got married, my mother just went out in the yard, picked a few white lilacs and drove to the church. No fussing, no huge cost. Things were so simple then.

For years I have jealously eyed every lilac bush that I passed and vowed that someday I would have so many bushes that I could pick as many as I wanted and you would not be able to notice.

When we moved to our present home 13 years ago, we planted 2 bushes and friends gave me two more and this year they are full of glorious blooms. Why are they exceptionally beautiful this year?

Lilacs bloom best after a harsh winter.

So in life, those who go through hard difficult experiences often blossom, bloom and bless our lives with deeper sensitivity, strength and genuine kindness...... like a sweet fragrance.

2 Corinthians 2 : 14-15 (The Message)

God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God.

This is how it should be! I wonder... is my life sweet - smelling?

Do I have to?

Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone.

The wisdom of life comes in the elimination of the nonessentials.