UNBELIEVEABLE

The time just goes so fast it is unbelieveable.

 

 

 

                                                                 Our Christmas angel

I love all the lights and decorations that brighten up the dark days.  I love the magic!

I believe in the power of inspiration and in the mysterious gift of all of life and Creation.

It was unbelieveable that a car making a quick turn into a driveway off Scott and stopped inches from me as I was walking.  I am so careful at all intersections but this was in the middle of the street. I even had my new reflective arm band on.  But it was dark and raining so we were both thankful that the brakes worked!  I was in a hurry wanting to get home to get ready to drive to Chillliwack.  I am so very careful but this was just a freaky thing.

 Even in the dark morning I feel that I am surrounded by love.

Unbelievable story about Eben Alexander, M.D.  I left for Theresa to read.
During his near dear death experience he experienced something appearing in the darkness as he lay unconscious; radiant fine filaments of white-gold light and the most beautiful sound of music.   He was a non believer until he saw this angel.  His life was changed.

I love going to Morgan and Ben's Christmas concert.  I was ready to leave at nine o'clock because I did not want to be late but filled in the time getting my hair cut.  We left in good time but forgot to take our over-night bag.  The drive there was rainy and misty with a fair amount of traffic on the road.

Morgan as a little angel.

 

Morgan had a little speaking part and did great.  Too bad her little halo kept sliding down.

 

Ben sang in the choir but the pictures did not turn out.  The choir leader was the best and they all

 

 sang with enthusiasm and I felt such overwhelming emotion just being there. 

 

It is hard to believe that Ben is nine and we were thinking he was eight and in grade three but he is in grade four.

 

 

Ben has his shirt on from Stuart McLean he was given at the concert!

 

 

                                   Truth is beyond belief because it may be hidden and elusive. 

ANTICAPATION

Our church is decorated very beautifully for Christmas.
We have some amazing creative people who do such beautiful banners.

Yesterday we had a skype talk with Kim and saw her and the two dogs.  She looks well and seems happy.  She likes her new place so much better after feeling that the man in charge of her other place was creepy.

We did not anticapate her call nor the one from Shawna but it was a joy to talk to them both.  We are so blessed to have such a loving family.  Stephan is away but will be home this weekend I believe.

I went to church full of expectations but feeling grubby.  Also my gas can was on empty and I was not sure I would make it there or not.  Maybe that is how one should feel in the wilderness the topic of the morning.  A place to listen, to feel the emptiness that loneliness brings and we feel separate from the busyness of others.

Monday was a sad day as we visited Robbie and left with a heavy heart.  Dad had a good talk with Chuck while I was told I could visit for 5 minutes with Robbie.  I sad a little prayer and held her hand. There was very little response from her only a small  smile and a feeling of peace.

In Daniel's ponderings I am reminded that this spiritual journey of mystery and anticapation is one that is able to see the sacred in the ordinaryness of life.   I live in a world where there are broken people searching for love and happiness and finding disappointment especially at this time of year.

There is pain in birth and yet we long to see hope and hear good news and love shows us what is precious .  The same hand that gives us life will give us peace when our life comes to an end.

"Christ's birth is a call to love, joy, hope and peace"  and we anticapate
that his birth, as one of us, will bring us out of the wilderness and give us
 direction as to what we can do for others. 

Today we journey to see Ben and Morgan and enjoy their Christmas concert.  We will stay over night and not travel back in the dark.  I am anticapating a happy time seeing their radiant  faces filled with love and excitment just seeing us.

We feel very at home in the Delta Hospice.  The staff are excellent and so very caring.

CONTENTMENT

                    A Nursing Home I pass often going by as the new helpers arrive for work.

                              Just me and a few tiny snow flakes falling quietly in the darkness.
 Enjoying all the Christmas decorations as I go on my walk. Feeling it is great to be alive!

  Finding contentment even in small adversities. can be a challenge.  Trusting the Good Lord to give us wisdom and strength one day at a time. We have a small tree in our yard that grows crooked  at the top.  Reminds me of the bonsai tree which reminds me that life sometimes bends and shapes us by adversity.  There is an elegance in the twisted shape and I am reminded of those around me who are going through "troubled waters" with grace and compassion and kindness.

I now am putting out the manger scene which is such a different place than all the happy figures on the lawns around us.  As I look at Mary and think about the way the story is told in scripture I wonder how well the writer knew this young girl soon to be a mother.  I think she must have been very strong to be able to answer yes, to be willing to risk her reputation and her fiance and the honor of her family and take on this role.

When she gives birth I am sure she is like any other new mother exhausted and weak and looking at this new babe wondering how she will be able to care for him.  This child who will speak for God has arrived into a messy world of imperfection, pain and confusion.  What can this Mary teach me?  To be courageous and trusting and faithful in accepting hardship and the unexpected. 

This God meets us where we are and goes through the painful process of rebirth there will come contentment.

"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness--
on them light has shined."    Isaiah: 9

Dad did not feel up to going to church and it was too cold and windy even for a short walk.
 He was enjoying the golf.  He was content!

FUZZY

We carried on after our morning waiting, dad at the emergency and me with Robbie and later Chuck and two other friends, into Vancouver to the Lee Valley Store. We are picking up something for Sandra because we feel she needs to be spoilt a little; but then again don't we all.

The mountains were covered with clouds but also with snow.  The day did not seem to know what it should do, sunny one minute raining the next.  It was windy and cold.

My mind seems fuzzy after the worry about dad and about Christmas in general.  I should have made a list for my cards, which I wasn't going to send, and I should have checked it twice.    Maybe I just get irritable more easily.  I do not like to be in crowds out shopping.

I find waiting in line so tiring.  I was feeling irritable when the lady at the grocery store in front of me having forgotten what she came for, rushed to get it and keep us all waiting.  I have done similar things so I should be graceful not only outwardly but in my inner thinking.

Planning meals is very annoying for me now if I am being honest.  Everyday I think I must make a better effort.  Today is a good day for stew which is dad's favorite.

Sitting with a very ill friend makes me aware of the unfairness of life and how much she will be missed.  I am glad I can spend time with her even when she is too tired to talk.

"It's always darkest before the dawn,
and that is what keeps me moving on."
- - Pete Seeger.

Christmas is a time to believe in miracles!

Hanukkah is:
Overcoming despair through hope
Accepting the unpredictability of luck
Remembering the need to be pragmatic
Remaining open to a miracle.
--Douglas Todd  in the Vancouver Sun

This is the tradition out of which our Christmas Story comes.

The darkening days make the nights longer and can affect some people with "seasonal affective disorder".  We want light to overcome this darkness so we decorate our homes with lights and candles.  The best miracle would be peace and the end of world hunger and violence.  Faith is what keeps my hope alive.

Sandra has been busy with the children's Christmas party.  She was a beautiful Mrs. Clause but who was Mr. Santa?  Was it Randy?

Church today and maybe a short walk with dad would do him good.  We went shopping yesterday , not for Christmas presents, but for bandages.  Good to do things together eh!

TIMING

>
It is time for the trees to be bare.  "We tend to think of permanence versus change without remembering they coexist. . .and that we are, at one and the same time, creatures of change and constancy."   Timing can be everything!  I know that every child of ours was born with a spirit unlike any other spirit and time does shape their character but nothing can extinguish that uniqueness that is theirs.
Dad's cut on his leg was very nasty and deep.  He was up in the night and I went into the bathroom where there was blood all over the floor.  Early in the morning he went to the Emergency where they gave him a tetanus shot and bandaged it up real good.  We were both tired after a long wait and not a good night.  This cut is serious because of dad's poor circulation and will take a long time to heal.
But with prayer there is hope!

I spent the time with Robbie, while dad was at the Delta emergency, but the timing was not good because she was extremely tired.
 I just sat quietly with her and prayed.

There are many ways to re-act to difficulties and problems that have to be faced and cannot be changed in the time we would like.  But we try to be hopeful and learn to cope.  I just happened to read about "active surrender", which is praying for help but leaves the circumstances in God's hands while doing all you can yourself.

We were watching a D.V.D. called "Collision" where it shows a group of people starting out on an ordinary day and all ending up in a massive collision on the freeway.  In trying to find out what had started it they found it had been a wasp in the car that the man was hitting and lost control.  Afterwards the lives of everyone was changed.

So here we are us poor little human beings carrying on as if we were in control of our lives.

Jesus asked the blind beggar "What do you want me to do for you?  Strange question?  If he is healed his whole life will be changed and he will not be just a beggar anymore.  We do not always know what is best for us.

Sometimes healing is in the plans for our lives and both surrendering and accepting help me to be positive while I wait for the timing to change.

           "My dictionary tells me "hope" means to cherish a desire with anticapation

We all have our bad days when our timing seems off.  Like dad climbing his rocks!  His cut was bleeding a bit again last night so we will need to get more of the right babdages.

Happy Hour

Our happy hour at our pot-luck supper is when everyone ends up in the kitchen.

Even the men!  Dad forgot to smile.

The Seniors center where I went to visit had a happy hour.  A time to buy cocktails or a beer and listen to a live singer.  There was a small group doing that when we left.  Up the stairs people were in small groups having tea or coffee.  When dad came to pick me up a man asked him to join their group of all women.

When is your Happy Hour?

For many years it was a happy moment when I would enjoy time reading to the children after a very busy day with not enough time to stop and rest.  Or it would be a moment when I would feel so happy just watching and listening to what they were doing or saying.  This is happiness that compensates for all the tiredness.  I still love reading to children.

Church for me can be a happy hour surrounded by friends and music and candles and the Word

Prayer is a time to rest in the love that surrounds us all and find healing that frees me from  frenzied materialism.  This can be anytime during the day when I count my blessings .

Dad's happy hour could be the time he spends walking in the forest and watching the dogs as he sits on the bench.  Except yesterday he felt more adventuresome and  climbed on a rock and fell backwards.  He has a nasty cut on his leg and on his elbow.  I was not happy coming home from the Nursing Home to find him bandaging his leg.   We will go to the clinic today to have it checked out.

Jim's happy hour is when I bring  him his milkshake.  That has changed from previous years.  I do not think Hell's Angels are famous for drinking milkshakes!

Yes, live in the moment and take time to enjoy life.  I will go for a walk and say my prayers as I go.

We both enjoy a happy hour visiting Robbie and Chuck and having tea and cookies.  We had planned to go today but plans may have changed.

I love our little tree and can just sit and quiet all my thoughts any time of the day. 
This is one of the benefits of growing old.

Yes, it is a wonderful Life!  With many happy hours to come!

          "It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich."   -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

QUEST

                                The quest to find a sense of peace and joy at this time of year.

My morning started with my quickest walk ever to get back to the house in time to met Sandra on her way to work.  I was very, very thankful  to not have to drive in that morning traffic jam.  I only had to go as far as our bank and the dollar store.  Had one more trip to mail last minute cards and buy more stamps.
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No You guys I did not go in the temple, mainly because I wanted to be home in time for dad to see how he was.  A little pain and a little dizzy but recovered quickly.  Ken sorry you had a miserable night after going to your dentist.

Dad has a funny story about the temple and the crazy idea our church had to invite them over to our church for out weekly coffee morning.  We did not know at that time they put on a meal every day for a great amount of people and welcomed all.  I am friendly with a lot of East Indian people I met daily on my walk.

Too bad Ben had a fall on the ice and had to get some stitches in his chin.  His first.  Very upsetting for both him and his mom.  He felt better after hearing about all the stitches dad has gotten over the years.


What are we celebrating?  The birth of a baby?  A birth of hope?  Love and life!  In the Nativity story we see all of life's experiences in the various relationships, hardships, fears and disbelief, journeys and even the Wise Men on a quest for the birth of a future king.  They hoped to find a powerful  presence greater than any they had encountered. 

 We now know what the most precious gift  is,  to be with someone you love. 

My quest is to keep the spiritual alive.

I do like the traditional Christmas that draws me to church to a special baby to a time long ago.  There is now an awareness that people are looking for some form of the spiritual reality.  It is sad when religion has seen to be identified with the external and institutional form and spirituality is more a personal inwardness.  When I think what the early church did to spread the good news it was a message of both personal salvation in the midst of hardship and troubles:  and it also  meant a dialogue with one another caring and sharing whether it was food or shelter or prayer.

I know for some this year Christmas will be a difficult time.