one day at a time ...

Live life one surrendered day at a time.

Eyes to the East.

Hands to the cross.

Feet to the path ...

B. Moore

the weekend!

good morning from my world!

i just took this picture ... isn't it enough to make you smile? flowers blooming in April, in Manitoba - well that in itself is a HUGE blessing ...

i survived the first week back at work ... a bit tired, a bit befuddled ... but the first week is now history! and leo survived it too ... it is always a period of adjustment for us ... especially with his health tilting downwards ... i feel like a bad wife because i'm not there for him in the daily sense of helping ... but ? ? ?

all for a reason ... and only for a season ...

the sweeter, the better

is the week done yet?

yes, you are in the right place ...

i needed a change .... when i heard that some of you had trouble reading my blog - well then it was really time to do something different! ... hopefully everyone can read my blog better ... but if you still can't, just e-mail me and let me know ... also, the haloscan commenting disappeared with the change of background ... if blogger commenting is being a problem ... please e-mail ...

it's been a hectic first week back at work ... UNDERSTATEMENT!

the pic i posted was taken yesterday, during my work day in the city ... would you believe that the green top i had on, was on backwards ALL day, and i didn't even realize that until i got home and was changing! duh!!! yes, i am grinning ... silly me ... but that gives you an indication of the week ... everything seems wired wrong with work ... and i haven't seen much of my sweetie either ... sigh ...

change continues to be in the air in my life ... i haven't made sense of it yet - i'm just trying to keep up!

If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.
~Author Unknown

learning from a robin ...

this morning, just before leaving for work, i watched a robin busily gathering dry grass for it's nest ... another robin seemed to be standing guard - perched on the clothes line - keeping an eye out for hungry cats ...

the picture of that robin stayed with me all day ... it was a calming picture ... a little homemaker in action ...

and God has His eye on the robin ... and God has His eye on you and me ...

His Eye is on the Sparrow

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,

Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,

When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

I sing because I’m happy,

I sing because I’m free,

For His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me.

“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,

And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;

Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,

When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,

I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

a look back . . .

this pic of me, posing in the backyard, was taken yesterday ... the willow is even greener today ... spring has really sprung ... and my season of work starts tomorrow ...

what a season we had in between ... putting the house up for sale ... actually selling it ... packing and trying to find a new place ... then this rental one came up ... and the move ... i have a whole blog documenting my prayer and praise over each situation! the winter months have shown time and time again, how the Lord answered prayer ... though sometimes i get a head of His plans and want it (like a home of our own) yesterday - but ALL in HIS good time!

you know what did happen today? leo's boat and his truck both sold ... all it took was 2 phone calls ... they will be someone elses now ...

last september i blogged about leo's last boat ride of the season ... click here ... it summed up my fear for our future ... God has been faithful ... we are still in transition ... but in the palm of His hand ...

well i think i shall step out and enjoy the sunshine ... as always, i hope the SON is shining on you today too ...

Faith is a bird that feels dawn breaking and sings while it is still dark.
- Scandinavian Saying

family . . .

such concentration on this little guy! he happens to be the baby of my baby sister ... they live a good days drive away, so our visits are few and far between ... i did see him during spring break ... he's 5 ... after visiting with me for a while, he asked his mother in this loud stage whisper ... "who is she? i like her! ... "

* * * * * * *

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu

a meme

i've been tagged ... by Diane from praying for your prodigal ... i must list six random things about myself ... so here ya go:

1. i'm 5'2" (well almost) ... most people think i'm taller! *grin* ...

2. i have a radio telephone operator's restricted license (aeronautical) ...

3. i've had 7 car accidents - all in the snow, no charges laid ...

4. i have a sister who's not related to my sisters ...

5. i only knew my husband 5 weeks before we were engaged ...
that was 32 years ago ...

6. my ancestral home is in the middle of a national park in Finland ...

now as for tagging people ... well if you read this and would like to do it, let me know ... i'd love to read your random thoughts ...

our daily bread

i've been reading Radio Bible Classes "Our Daily Bread" for about 30 years ... here is what April 20th's devotional said ... it blessed my heart, hope it does the same for you!


April 20, 2006

Winds Of Love

A farmer had a weather vane on his barn, on which was written "God is love." When friends asked why, the farmer said, "This is to remind me that no matter which way the wind blows, God is love."

When the warm "south wind" with its soothing and balmy breezes brings showers of blessing, God is love. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above" (James 1:17).
When the cold "north wind" of trial and testing sweeps down upon you, God is love. "All things work together for good to those who love God" (Romans 8:28).

When the "west wind" blows hard upon you with its punishing intent, God is love. "Whom the Lord loves He chastens" (Hebrews 12:6).

When the "east wind" threatens to sweep away all that you have, God is love. "God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory" (Philippians 4:19).

Perhaps you are discouraged and downhearted. If so, remember, God still cares for you. What you are experiencing has either been sent or it has been allowed by Him for your good.

Yes, no matter which way the wind is blowing, God is love. —Richard De Haan—

God is love:
His mercy brightens
All the path in which we rove;
Bliss He wakes and woe He lightens
—God is wisdom, God is love.
—Bowring

No affliction would trouble us if we knew God’s reason for permitting it.

lunch at the Sals

i just got back from a 2 day trip to the city ... one of my stops was lunch at the Sals on the Bridge ... my childhood friend June is posing in this pic by the restaurant ... the restaurant is perched on a bridge, right over the Red River ... quite a cool place with good food and good prices!

must dash ... just giving an up-date to those of you who wondered where i was ... just out visiting ... *smile* ...

how comfortable are you?

i’ve so enjoyed my walks this spring ... as i walk i pray - for people, places and sometimes things!

yesterday as i was briskly striding along, i thanked the Lord for our rental place ... i know that it was provided by Him, at the right time, for our need ... and i know that it is a good place to wait in ...

this rental place could be a place to spread out and really live in too ... but there are a few drawbacks ... there is that stale tobacco smell - that oozes at the most unexpected times ... the lawn and garden are huge huge huge ... way beyond what we are capable of caring for ... and the occasionally leak in the basement, well ... you get the picture ...

so i pray for our yet to be found home ... that place that is right for us ... where we can settle in and do what work we have the strength for ... i have a peace about it ... it will come when the time is right ...

isn’t that like our earthly home, compared to our heavenly one?

we can merrily go along, living for the day with no thought of anything but how grand this life is ... then we get ill ... or finances fail ... or loved ones let us down ... and our hearts get discouraged ... those times should draw us closer to God ... and He in turn gives us a glimpse of our heavenly home, that Jesus has gone to prepare for us ... a home that is perfect ... no illness, no financial concerns, no more hate or any sin of any kind ... all that has been wiped away ...

so let’s not get too comfy down here ... after all, it's only our "rental home" ... our "real home" (heaven) is just around the corner!

dreaming of ....

while others dream of summer vacations ... my thoughts turn to work ...

yup, only one more week and i head back to the salt mines in the park ... and now my list of "things to do before work starts" has gotten to the "yikes, i didn't get _____ done before works starts!" ... though not having our house has shortened that list immensely!

i don't miss our house ... we made it a home while we were there ... there was plenty of room for company - and we had plenty of company too ... but i don't have any regrets about selling ... neither does leo ...

i just hope that what i learned over the winter ... about faith, God's timing and care ... will stay with me during the summer ...

now i need to "get tuit" ... it looks like another lovely day is forming ... tomorrow rain is promised, so while it is yet today - that is when the work needs to be done!

blessings on the work of your hands, dear blog buds!

Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights. ~Pauline R. Kezer

He is Risen!

"Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to see the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, because an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone ... "

"the angel spoke to the women. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here! He has been raised from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying."

Matthew 28: 1,2,5,6

the river is flowing ...

just a little glimpse into my world ...

yesterday i had my first outdoor sauna of the season! YAY! ... there was just a bit of ice on the river ... it was clinging stubbornly to the shoreline ... i definitely didn't go for a swim!

the wood smoke curled from the chimney ... the sun shone warmly ... and little ole me enjoyed sitting on those old wooden benches, sweating away my cares ...

afterwards my aunt made a big meal which 31 of us enjoyed to the fullest ... *smile* ...

hope you had a "good friday" as well ...

it was love

Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me." Matthew 26:38

i probably would have fallen asleep ... like the disciples did ... instead of keeping the Lord company during that long night ... before His date with an event that changed the world - the crucifixion of a Righteous Man ... the Son of God ...

He could have decided that we weren't worth it ... but love kept Him on that lonesome road to the cross ... and i will be eternally greatful!

"If you were ever tempted to doubt God's love for you, even for a moment, then take a long, hard look at the Cross. Nails did not hold Jesus to that cross. His love did." Greg Laurie, For Every Season

age of accountability

do you remember that first moment when you actually felt the weight of your sins? i do ... i was 8 ... it is etched so vividly in my brain that it never gets lost in that "oh ya, now i remember" file ...

mom was working a late afternoon shift ... dad decided to invite some of his buddies over for the evening ... since my brother and i slept on the pullout couch in the living room of our small apartment, we were temporarily shifted to the bedroom ... i remember lying awake, listening to the noise of men drinking too much ... my brother was cuddled in a little ball beside me ... my eyes dimly made out the cross that hung over the doorway of my parents bedroom ... as i gazed at that cross, i felt so very very bad inside ... as bad as an 8 year old is able to feel ...

we had been sporadically attending a Lutheran church in the rough mining community we lived in ... i was befriended by a wonderful couple in that church ... i don’t remember a conversation about sin, salvation or God’s saving grace ... but they must have shared something with me, because my 8 year old heart knew the burden of unforgiven sin ... i knew at that moment that Christ had died for my sins - personally ...

i remember crying and asking God’s forgiveness ... i remember telling Him i was so sorry that he had to die for me ... then i fell into a deep sleep ...

my sleep was shattered by a loud bang, then a crash and the sounds of scraping furniture ... i heard raised voices and more crashes coming from the living room ... my brother, who is 3 years younger than me, was afraid ... i was too, but big sisters have to atleast appear to be brave ...

more angry shouting ... then there was silence ...

we crept out of the bedroom and took in the scene ... the furniture was knocked over and spread out ... it looked like food and drink were spilled on the floor ... my dad was lying on the floor with a knife in his hand ... he was crying ...

my brother hung back, but i went up to dad and put my arms around him and told him that i loved him ... in a drunken stupor he ground his teeth and said that he would kill us ... i hugged him some more and then grabbed my brothers hand, leaving the apartment and my very drunk father behind ...

i found safety for us with a neighbour ... and my poor mom came home from work to a horrible mess ... a husband passed out in the wrecked living room and 2 missing children ...

this is the first time i write this account down ... i’ve only talked about it a few times ... yet, even without the recounting of it ... it is one of those defining moments ... i don’t know why it all played out this way ... eternity will show me the completed tapestry of my life ...

i learned i loved the Lord so much - the one who died for me ...
i learned i loved my dad, despite his weakness ...

as Good Friday comes around once again ... i remember that first time i felt convicted because of my sins ... and the first time i felt loved and redeemed because of Jesus death on the cross ... maybe that was what kept my brother and i safe from what could have been just another deadly statistic in a world full of domestic violence ...

3 a.m.

3 a.m.

i've been waking up regularly at 3 a.m. ...

do you have times like that too? for no apparent reason, you wake up at the same time every night ...

my mind scans through the faces of loved ones ... wondering if someone needs prayer?

i pray ... then try to find sleep again ... i adjust my pillow ... move the cat gently with my foot ... and then start to chatter (not outloud ... *smile* ... just in my mind) to the Lord about what's on my heart .... i fall asleep again ...

in the morning i'm not tired ... just puzzled about why 3 a.m. seems to be "the time" for prayer ...

spring rain

i woke at 3 a.m. to a gentle, soothing sound ... the pitter patter of the first spring rain ... this morning i could see it's handiwork on the green grass shoots, breaking out of the ground ... a robin was hopping around the yard, searching for it's breakfast of worms ...

we need rain ... if we only had sunshine, the ground would be barren and dry ... our souls need rain too ... i won't fight the showers ...

disquiet within

i'm out of sorts ...

this should be a time of celebrating palm sunday and reflecting on God's goodness towards us ... yet i'm still out of sorts ...

i can't put my finger on it ... just an ill at ease type of feeling ... it's been with me all week ...

i've tried to think of what might need confessing, what might need doing, just what might need fixing within ... who needs an apology? you know, that type of thinking ...

or it may be living with someone in chronic pain 24/7 ... leo's health takes a downhill turn in the spring ... he just doesn't feel well ... that might be tied to the disquiet within ... or the changes that i face at work ...

i prefer the "peace like a river" ... rather than the "sea billows roll" ... don't we all!

so tho' i am battling this tempest within, i will say with the psalmist,

Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.
Psalm 43:5

it is no secret, what God can do ...

It Is No Secret, What God Can Do
by Stuart Hamblin

The chimes of time ring out the news
Another day is through
Some one slipped and fell,
Was that someone you?
You may have longed for added strength
Your courage to renew
Do not be disheartened
I have news for you.

Chorus:
It is no secret what God can do,
What he has done for others,
He'll do for you.
With arms wide open,
He'll pardon you
It is no secret
what God can do.

There is no night,
for in His light
You'll never walk alone.
You'll always feel at home
wherever you may roam,
There is no power can conquer you,
While God is on your side.
Take Him at His promise,
Don't run away and hide.

Chorus:
It is no secret what God can do,
What he has done for others,
He'll do for you.
With arms wide open,
He'll pardon you.
It is no secret
what God can do...

listen to the song here LINK

God given talent in blogland

my heart has been so blessed by my blogland buddies ... all in different ways ... some make me laugh ... some make me pray ... some make me think ... but all of you have a daily impact on me ...

one of my first blog buds was Debra ... she inspires me to be a better follower of Christ with her thought provoking posts ... if you haven't visited her site As I See It Now, i'd recommend it ...

here is her Friday April 7th post ... copied from As I See It Now:


Fall In Love With The Gardener

I have found the secret to not dreading and despising the times of great pruning in our lives:

Fall in love with the Gardener.

When you love the Gardener, you won't scream when He steps through the tall weeds toward you with those huge hedge clippers.

You won't pull up your shallow roots and run, crying, toward a hiding place, hair caught in the brambles. You won't cower there and tell Him, "______ needs to be pruned--not me! He's the one with the problem."

Nor will you squeal, "Noooo! Don't prune that away. I adore that part of me.... I just am what I am..."

Fall in love with the Gardener and you'll have passion in the middle of the prunings, love in the middle of the surgeries... a shoulder to cry on when the pruning becomes humiliating... a heart to grow close to while parts of you are dying......

and you will become displeased by what displeases Him, even if it's something you formerly quite liked about yourself... you'll trust that He knows what He's doing and He knows a whole lot more than you do about your own garden...

You'll prefer this Gardener, this Friend, who sticks closer than a brother (who gets busy or leaves)... you'll have an encourager who is never out to lunch (like normal people who have a life away from you, too).

You'll have a God who comes down to your ever-changing, blossoming garden to walk with you in the cool of the evening.

And there is nothing better than that.

***

"Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit." John 15:2

work buds

i had lunch with my work buds today ... the woman who is the very heart of our office is retiring this friday ... i blogged about my work buds here and here ...

i am so happy that my gal pal is able to retire while still in her 50's ... to have time to enjoy the grandkids, her garden and travel ... but boy oh boy, am i ever going to miss her! it will not be the same office at all ...

*gulp* ... i go back to work on the 24th ... i usually really look forward to it ... but!! ... this year - hmmmm, i don't know? i guess i will just have to wait and see how it all works out ...

i work with mostly men ... and the 2 other girls in the office ... we were such a close knit group of 3 ... we worked so well together ... now the 3 musketeers will only be 2 ... with a new member standing in the side-lines, yet to be announced ...

2006 has ushered in major changes in my little world ... first our cute rental place ... and now a new work environment ...

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.
~Anatole France

foggy days, and faithful ways ...

i snapped this foggy scene yesterday ... through the windshield of my speeding car, as i headed to the city ... i drove with one hand, as i fiddled with the camera and snapped a pic with the other ... aren't you glad you weren't on the road with me? *grin* ... honest it was safe - no other vehicles were around and it was a divided, two lane highway ...

the picture illustrates how i see life sometimes ... things aren't quite clear, they're just a bit blurred ... you can see the images, just not in that crisp, sun-drenched way ... but you see enough ... you know where the road is ... you can head in the right direction without fear of getting lost ...

and when i reached my destination the sun came out, shining brilliantly ... the same sun that was shrouded by fog and cloud earlier ... even though i didn't see it, it had been there all along ...

Faith is like radar that sees through the fog.

~Corrie Ten Boom, Tramp for the Lord

"Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now."
I Corinthians 13:12

ok, now it's sunday ...

did you change your clocks? it always seems early to me when the spring change occurs ... you know - the ole body gets that "time already?" feeling ...

just a quick note - i will be off to do some visiting in the city ...

blessings to you!