Today I'm thankful for...

...the bright morning sun and the great rain we got overnight. I think we're gonna see everything really green out now! (hopefully we don't get the week of drizzle and flurries they're forecasting right now!) We REALLY need to sit down and figure out what's going in the garden this year. We'll need to start seeding it soon.

And I'm thankful for a wonderful Vegas vacation with awesome friends last weekend. Wow, what a surreal experience for us back-country bumpkins!!

I'm especially grateful for safe travels. I'll admit, for the first time in my life, flying made me nervous (man, I'm developing all sorts of weirdness in my old age!!), so it was good to have three very smooth flights out of the four we took. And the one that wasn't silky smooth wasn't really all that bad either, but it was good that after about 10 minutes of bouncing around, the pilot decided to change altitudes. The rest of the flight was fine.

I was considerably less nervous on the way home, so maybe I was just out of practice ~ it's been 12 years since I flew last. In any case, I'm glad the air travel went without incident!

I'm glad the ground travel went well, too. We rented a car for our stay and that was probably the best decision we made regarding the trip. We came and went as we pleased and it was by far the cheapest, most convenient way to get to the Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon. And it saved us a LOT of walking!! We did an awful lot as it was, but without the car, I'm not sure we'd have been able to manage seeing everything we saw along The Strip! The Bushman and my cousin, The Farmer, both did an excellent job of driving and navigating in a strange, MUCH busier city than any of us are used to! (all the while filtering the back-seat driving assistance from us ladies!)

I'm thankful for a unique experience and that we managed to cram so much into only 3-1/2 days ~ and that the weather was so amazing.

And the girls did so well with all their different care-givers and never once had trouble with us not being around. We got home less than an hour before they got home on the bus Tuesday afternoon, so we went out to the end of the driveway to meet them ~ the shrieking and squealing started before they were even off the bus. It was good to know they'd missed us like we'd missed them!

I'm so grateful for a home to come home to and a normal routine ~ even though catching up on that routine after being gone almost a week isn't much fun!!

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Oh my goodness...

I don't even know where to start!!

We got back home from our trip to Vegas yesterday afternoon. It was awesome.

Other than Thursday, which was rather cool, the weather was incredible. The sights were overwhelming. The scenery was breath-taking. The walking was leg- and foot-numbing....

It was great!!

But it's SO good to be home again, too!

Except for the piles of laundry and house reorganization and business paperwork that need to be tackled...

So the rest of the photos and details will have to wait.

10 Ways to Let the Sun Shine In

I found this in a Readers' Digest article years ago, and like to remind myself every spring as the days start getting longer and the sun starts getting warmer.

1. Get up an hour earlier.Step outside, listen to the birds, smell the air, pray. Give thanks for what's going well in your life.

2. Stay out of the supermarket. When the growing season is under way, try to shop at the farmers' markets instead. Enjoy the colours, textures, and smells; the taste of fresh food harvested just hours before.

3. Pick berries. Nothing tastes like a ripe strawberry just picked from the plant. It is the flavour of seduction.

4. Make a pie. Real pie - homemade pie - is a work of art and an act of love.

5. Eat outside. Yes, more picnics. Bring a big blanket, a straw hat, a basket of fresh bread, cheese, fruit, wine and a few good friends.

6. Just say no. Try to stay firm and save some time just for yourself; to loll, nap, daydream.

7. Get on - or in - the water more. Haul out that old canoe and paddle down a nearby river on afternoon or slip into the nearest water hole and let the water wash away the stress of the day.

8. Find a hay field. After the hay has been cut, drive by at dusk with the windows rolled down. Stop the car and just sit there, breathing in the sweet, green fragrance, watching the swallows swooping in circles over the darkening fields.

9. Go outside at night. Walk outdoors after dark and admire the stars, the Milky Way, how the clouds look in the moonlight. Walking at night heightens the senses -- and moonlight is a powerful aphrodisiac.

10. Let go. At least a little. Give yourself some sanctuary, some breathing room every day. When we make the time to replenish our reserves, we find new energy to reach out in ways large and small, to change our world. To change ourselves.

Practicing Gratitude

So, I'm not actually here posting today. I'm not online.

I'm not even at home!

I don't know when you're reading this, but if it's any time between 4 pm (CDT) Wednesday and 4 pm (CDT) Thursday, I'm somewhere en route to Las Vegas! FOR SERIOUS!!!

(our flight leaves/left at 8 am today, but we live 5.5 hrs from the airport, so we drove to The Big City yesterday after school already and hotelled it over night)

I'm thankful for this trip, which our trucking company won from the local heavy-duty mechanics shop where we get a lot of the work done on our trucks! Every invoice, apparently, gets you an entry. Who knew having all sorts of truck trouble last year would actually BENEFIT us?!

I'm so thankful for amazing friends and business partners. My husband and my cousin are the owners ~ myself and my cousin's wife are "perferred shareholders." And we're all best friends.

Even after a fairly stressful first year of business!!

I'm so thankful we can enjoy this vacation together with them. I look forward to sharing many laughs, great chats, extremely long walks, and new experiences.

I'm thankful my childcare all came together, even though we needed three different couples to pitch in, including my parents, who are coming out to stay with the girls for most of the time we're gone. I'm so thankful for the wonderful women from our church who will be caring for the girls until mom and dad get here ~ their willingness to help out is only limited by my ability to ask, it seems!

I'm thankful for the chance to get away, to do something VERY out of the ordinary. Especially at this point in our lives where any sort of travel just doesn't figure into the foreseeable future. What a wonderful surprise from God!

Woo-hoo! Viva Las Vegas!!!!

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** And yes, it DOES seem a little weird to consider this free trip to SIN CITY a gift from God!

WW: My Weekend Plans

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It's tough to believe spring is here.

But it really seems to be!

Here on the Canadian prairies, we're so used to being teased by spring. It's warm and the snow melts... and then it snows again. That just finishes melting away... and we're hit with a huge snowstorm. (Repeat cycle AT LEAST once more!)

This year, we've all been saying, "Oh just wait, winter's not done with us yet," since mid-March, and we've spent the last 6 weeks anticipating winter's worst. It would seem that maybe happened as early as February this year!

On Saturday, after our second picnic lunch of the year, we went to visit what we call our "frog pond" ~ the ditches on either side of the mile road that runs beside our property.

Normally, the puddle on the other side of the road lasts into July because it doesn't drain, but this year, with there being so little water in it, I won't be surprised if it's gone before the end of June!

Notice the summer clothing! It was 21.5C (71F) that afternoon!!

(Disregard the headrag, please. This is my "I've got lots of work to do and I'll probably sweat, so there's no point showering in the morning and doing my hair. Plus, it's Saturday!" look.)

Back on the yard, I wandered around a little to see if I could see signs of plant life already. There was quite a bit that wasn't just weeds! (funny how they're the first thing to turn green in spring and the last to die off in fall!) Here's the buds on our willow trees:

And a rhubarb shoot:

And the sticky poplar seeds that will soon be all over the ground, ready to stick to ~ and stain ~ EVERYTHING:

And more buds from some other unknown trees in our windbreak:

It was just such an incredibly beautiful day!! Check out this post for a great comparison to a year ago ~ so far, I have to say springtime this year beats last year by a long shot! We were still wearing winter jackets in that post!! And the trees didn't start budding for about another three weeks.

Hope you're outside enjoying the great weather, too!!

Just because...

The Bushman said yesterday that my blog had gotten boring. Too much preaching writing, not enough pictures. He's right. This blog has gotten a little heavy on theology and doctrine and a little light on real life. Ah, yet another area of life where seeking balance is a challenge! Who'da thought?!

So here's a sequence of shots (taken through not-perfectly-clean windows!) of Fidget alternately torturing and loving on her cat, Lunar Jim:





Check out that patch of green(ish) grass!!

And one shot of The Bushman himself, taking a cuddle break with our dog, Shadow, after cleaning out his truck:

(And no, it's not your imagination ~ that shed really is crooked!!)

And now, since I've completed my to-do list for the day and I've had my bloggy break, I'm off to enjoy some above normal temperatures and sunshine! Have a great weekend!!

Practicing Gratitude

This week I'm especially thankful for the wonderful women in my church. I spoke on Monday night at our annual ladies' salad supper and it was such a great time! I wasn't even nervous!

I had a lovely, relaxing evening ~ a unique meal surrounded by friends and laughter.

It's taken me a while to feel this way about this group of women. We've lived here 8 years and even though it's a very small church, it's really only been in the last two that I've started to feel like this is... HOME. That my church is FAMILY. But I'm so glad it's finally happened! I love spending time with them, whether Sunday morning worship services, formal or informal get-togethers, or one-on-one.

We've recently split into ladies and mens classes for Sunday school, and while I still have some reservations about that, the increasing closeness among the women is undeniable as we share from our hearts each week. It's been wonderful to witness how we're opening up a little more each week, allowing ourselves to become a little more vulnerable each time. Allowing each other into our lives a little more intimately.

Dr. M. Scott Peck (American psychiatrist and author, 1936-2005) once said, "There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.” And I think he might be right.

I'm so grateful to be a part of a group of women who are risking more and more each week in the hopes of drawing closer to each other; willing to expose their hearts a little more openly each time we meet, with the goal of ever developing tighter friendships and more genuine Christian community.

What are YOU thankful for today?

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Where the Rubber Meets the Road

I grew up listening to Thru the Bible Radio with Dr. J. Vernon McGee at suppertime. For YEARS, as soon as we'd said grace, we'd listen to his half-hour radio program. I didn't particularly enjoy it and I distinctly remember wishing we didn't have to listen to him every single night, but it's interesting how these things make a lasting impression. In the last several months, I've found myself listening to his exposition of complicated or hard-to-understand Bible passages over at BlueLetterBible.com and though I hadn't heard the sound of his voice for MANY years, it was at once familiar and comforting. Like coming home.

One of the expressions I remember him using a lot was, "This is where the rubber meets the road." As in, here's how we apply this verse to our everyday lives. This is the crux of the matter.

Last night, I spoke at our church's annual ladies' salad supper. I spoke about growing a heart-attitude of servanthood.

Service, I said, whether good or bad, can affect our whole attitude about an entire company. You know as well as I do, that the way people serve (or don’t serve!) can make or break a customer’s day. We’ve all been places – restaurants or stores – where the salesperson or waiter gave the distinct impression he or she didn’t want to be there. Didn’t want YOU to be there either! An experience like that often makes you determine to never return, if at all possible.

The same is true for our service. The way we serve others affects people’s attitude about the company we work for – the Kingdom of God. People get their opinions of Jesus Christ and His kingdom by the way that we serve—the attitude, the quality of the service we offer.

I got into some word studies of the Greek words doulos and diakonos (because I have a bizarre geek-love for words and language!), which are the words we see in our Bibles translated as slave, bondslave ~ or handmaiden in the feminine form ~ and servant.

Doulos speaks of a voluntary vertical relationship. Literally, a slave who voluntarily devotes himself to a master for his entire LIFE. Which tells us not only something about the slave, but since it starts with a voluntary decision by the slave, it speaks volumes about the master as well. This is a picture of our relationship as lifelong servants of God.

Where doulos places emphasis on relationship, diakonos refers more to the type of work or service rendered. And since it appears to be derived from another Greek word meaning "works in dust" or "runs through dust," it seems to indicate menial tasks. The sometimes annoying necessities of everyday life. And we're ALL familiar with those! The stuff no one really wants to do, but needs to be done regardless.

But the Bible says that because we're first a doulos of God, we need to work at becoming diakonos to others. We're to selflessly serve others, ministering to their needs, because we love God.

And this is where the rubber meets the road.

A servant-hearted person is a sensitive, observant person. A servant-hearted person willfully sets aside their own little world to jump to someone’s assistance. And I say willfully because, in my case at least, my own little world is so all-consuming that it generally completely blocks my view of what’s going on in the lives of others. It’s not that I don’t want to help; it's not that I don't want to be a good friend, but I’m simply so absorbed in my own life that I just don’t see it. It just doesn’t even occur to me that someone has a need I’m fully capable of reaching out and meeting. It will require a HUGE act of the will to change.

I need to strive to serve. Not because it will earn me recognition among my peers; not because it will make me wealthy, but because it will make God happy.

And it’s excellent PR for the Company.

So the challenge then, is to remember that wherever I go, whatever I do, I'm essentially wearing a sandwich-board bearing an advertisement slogan for my faith. How I serve will affect what people read there. And not just random people I come into contact with either, but people whom I claim as my friends. And the people I live with.

What does my sandwich-board say today? What do you want yours to say?

Strikin' it rich!

The pastor couple in one of the churches in our area are old family friends. He's actually a cousin to my dad and as long as I can remember, we've gotten together with them on a regular (if not frequent) basis.

In the mid-70's, while they were training for the missionfield, we visited them at Rio Grande Bible Institute in Texas. A couple years later, while they were missionaries in Nicaragua, we visited them there, too, for two weeks. In the first two years after The Bushman and I got married, we made two trips to Ixtapa, Mexico with my parents, and on our second trip, we shared our three-bedroom condo with this wonderful couple for a week.

They moved up here to our Valley to pastor their current church (which is the 'sister' church to the one The Bushman and I attend, but located in a different town) right around the time we got married. We haven't gotten together with them nearly as much as we would have liked, but we've enjoyed some meals together and some impromptu visits when either The Bushman or I have popped in at the church office during the week for a chat. Always a great time. He has a wonderful gift for story-telling, both have great senses of humour, and our conversations run from serious to side-splitting with less than a moment's notice.

Their youngest child is almost all growed up. She graduates high school this year and has plans to spend the next year overseas. Their two older kids have been on their own for many years already and have never really called this Valley home for more than a few months at a time. One lives in The Big City, the other in the Carolinas.

And so they've decided to retire from the pastorship and return to missions.

Which means they're feeling the need to downsize and scale back.

Specifically books.

You can totally see where this is going, can't you?

I was absolutely THRILLED when he emailed me about a month ago, inviting me to raid his study! When I finally got around to going yesterday, I was delighted to see his shelves looked virtually untouched. And I was free to look through all the titles and take whichever caught my fancy! A few he recommended and a few caught my eye, and by the time I'd been there for an hour, I had a boxful. Eighteen, to be precise! (well, technically 19, but one was a book about man stuff that The Bushman has mentioned a few times, so I took it up for him)

I'm so excited!! Man, this is like, two to three YEARS worth of reading I've got here now!! (And you KNOW I'm still gonna buy a bunch in the meantime, too!)

Here's my windfall, listed in no particular order:

Reaching for the Invisible God ~ Philip Yancey
A Hunger for God ~ John Piper
The Cross of Christ ~ John Stott
Living Above the Level of Mediocrity ~ Charles R. Swindoll
Fearfully & Wonderfully Made ~ Dr. Paul Brand & Philip Yancey
The Case for a Creator ~ Lee Strobel
The Mustard Seed Conspiracy ~ Tom Sine
Healing the Wounded ~ John White & Ken Blue
In Search of Dignity ~ R. C. Sproul
Rebuilding Your Broken World ~ Gordon MacDonald
The Disciple Making Church ~ Bill Hull
The Lost Art of Disciple Making ~ Leroy Eims
The Kingdom and The Power ~ Gary S. Greig & Kevin N. Springer
Rediscovering Holiness ~ J. I. Packer
The Table of Inwardness ~ Calvin Miller
The Taste of Joy ~ Calvin Miller
Kingdoms in Conflict ~ Charles Colson
The Body ~ Charles Colson (I borrowed this from our church library last year, but I'm so excited to possess a copy now!)

Now. Where to begin?!

Practicing Gratitude.

How is it that it's always Wednesday afternoon before I realize I haven't sat down and thought about what I'm truly thankful for each week?!

Mostly, this week I'm thankful for healing. Spring break was a NASTY week around here ~ fevers, tonsilitis, strep throat.... ugly, ugly stuff. Prescription meds of all different colours. YUCK!

But I'm so happy we're all on the mend! Good health is so easy to take for granted until suddenly you're not feelin' so hot!

I'm thankful that my mom's continually noticing improvements in her health, even though they're not coming as fast as she'd like! She's on the slow road to recovering from Cushings Syndrome. Her body will need considerable time to adjust to a missing adrenal gland (which she had removed on February 23) and the ever-fluctuating hormone levels as doctors gradually adjust her medications in order to hopefully get the one remaining adrenal gland to kick in and start doing its job.

And I'm so thankful my mother-in-law's major surgery on April 1 went well and that she was home already only two days later. She, too, faces a potentially long road to recovery, but her attitude has been so encouraging and we have high hopes that healing will be complete and permanent.

And I owe a debt of gratitude for all of you who prayed for both mothers over the last few months! It's been a bit hard on everyone and they were so touched to hear that prayers were going up on their behalf from all over North America! It really is an incredible thing, this universal Family of God!! I love you all!

What are YOU thankful for today?

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"How I Spent My Spring Break," a report by tammi

And certainly one I hope to never repeat.

Remember that day that was so beautiful and we had our first picnic? That day, all the way last Monday ago? The first official day of Spring break? Yeah, that one.

That was also our ONE AND ONLY good day of Spring break! For serious.

Tuesday afternoon, I started developing a sore throat, but didn't think it would be anything worse than a cold. By evening, I knew I wasn't just coming down with a cold, and after a feverish, restless night, the pain becoming increasingly unbearable, I thought I'd probably developed an ear infection. Though the pain seemed more concentrated in my throat, my ear was definitely affected. But I took 2 extra-strength Advils and the pain was manageable, so I thought maybe it would go away on its own.

By the time the ibuprofen wore off Wednesday afternoon, whatever it was had NOT gone away on its own. Fidget also had mild fever in the morning and again later in the day, so she got some Advil, too. The girls basically fended for themselves for the second half of the day while I curled up in my bed, waiting to die sleeping.

Fortunately, The Bushman came home early ~ he was only expected home Thursday or Friday night, but he was home for a late supper on Wednesday. Unfortunately, he spent much of Thursday on the couch due to a migraine.

Fidget and I dosed ourselves with Advil again Thursday morning and I finally went to see the doctor in the afternoon. Turns out, I had tonsilitis.

Ahh, so THAT's why I've been swallowing razor blades!!

After sustaining a gentle tongue-lashing from my doctor for not coming in much earlier and picking up my $50 prescription, we returned home to find The Bushman feeling much better. He and the girls spent the rest of the afternoon fooling around the yard on the quad and setting up the trampoline.

Fidget came in early looking very glassy-eyed and Peanut complained about a sore throat when she came in a bit later. Great.

The girls and I spent most of Friday vegging out because none of us felt that great. While the branding iron effect was gone, my throat was still VERY sore. Fidget's fever was back with a vengeance, and Peanut's throat was obviously getting worse.

A round of Advils for everyone!

Saturday morning, I finally was feeling a little closer to normal ~ throat still sore, but no pain meds necessary ~ but both girls were obviously not. Fidget was very fevered and Peanut was crying because her throat hurt so bad and was beginning to bother her ears. My body was feeling the effects of the harsh antibiotics I'd been prescribed and I couldn't be too far away from the bathroom at any time (if you know what I mean), so The Bushman had to take the girls into the hospital to get checked out. Turns out Fidget just had the flu and Peanut, well, they couldn't really decide what to do for her. The doctor said it could be an infection developing, but generally, he wouldn't prescribe anything at this particular stage yet. Since nothing would be open on Sunday he wrote a prescription for antibiotics anyway, leaving the decision up to us.

The Bushman then consulted the pharmacist, who recommended we take the prescription home in un-mixed dry powder form so we could mix up the suspension at home should the pain get worse.

Once home, Peanut began coughing and Fidget had a nap (which is a SURE sign of illness!) and woke up drenched with sweat. She's been fine ever since.

Yesterday was our church's annual Easter breakfast, and though Peanut was coughing a fair bit, we decided to go. The Bushman was chairing the service, I'd promised to bring juice for breakfast... and I really needed to get out of the house for a positive reason!

It was wonderful to visit with dear church family, including several grown up and moved-away kids and their families who were back for the holiday. The pastor's one daughter-in-law had already graciously agreed to take my place at the piano earlier in the week. I always enjoy visiting with her when they're out, but I was SO THANKFUL for her this particular time!! And it's always a pleasure listening to her play.

We spent a really lazy afternoon at home doing absolutely nothing and Peanut had a short nap just before supper ~ another sure sign of illness! Fortunately, she woke up drenched with sweat as well. Unfortunately, this was the second time in two days OUR bed had been drenched with a child's fever-sweat!

After supper, the girls went with their dad to get his semi-truck so he wouldn't have to leave quite so early this morning, and they ended up being gone an hour past bedtime, but hey, it was the most fun they had all Spring break, so I couldn't really be upset about it!

I'm happy to report this morning that Peanut coughed hardly at all last night and her prescription seems to have been unnecessary. (anyone want an unopened bottle of Amoxicillin powder for cheap?!) I've got a bit of lingering swelling in my throat but no pain. Both girls are back in school, and I've got a hectic day of catch-up bookkeeping, housekeeping, grocery shopping, and piano teaching ahead of me.

It's good to be back.

Worship Christ, the Risen King!!

Rise, O Church, and lift your voices; Christ has conquered death and hell.
Sing as all the earth rejoices; Resurrection anthems swell.
Come and worship, come and worship, Worship Christ, the risen King!

See the tomb where death had laid Him; Empty now, its mouth declares:
"Death and I could not contain Him, for the throne of life He shares."
Come and worship, come and worship, Worship Christ, the risen King!

Hear the earth protest and tremble; See the stone removed with pow'r.
All hell's minions may assemble, But cannot withstand His hour.
He has conquered, He has conquered, Christ the Lord, the risen King!

Doubt may lift its head to murmur, Scoffers mock and sinners jeer;
But the truth proclaims a wonder Tho'tful hearts receive with cheer.
He is risen, He is risen; Now receive the risen King!

We acclaim Your life, O Jesus; Now we sing Your victory.
Sin and hell may seek to seize us, But Your conquest keeps us free.
Stand in triumph, stand in triumph; Worship Christ, the risen King!

WORDS: Jack Hayford, 1986
MUSIC: Henry T. Smart, 1867

Happy Resurrection Day!