like a river glorious

Like a river glorious is God’s perfect peace,
Over all victorious, in its bright increase;
Perfect, yet it floweth fuller every day,
Perfect, yet it groweth deeper all the way.

Refrain:

Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand;
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there.

Every joy or trial falleth from above,
Traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love;
We may trust Him fully all for us to do;
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.

Frances R Havergal

six word memoir

Cathy from Melodies and Hymnsongs, tagged me for a six word memoir ... since 6 words seemed to be a challenge i could handle *chuckling* ... here is what i came up with ...

if you want to play along, feel free ... and let me know what you come up with to describe yourself, in only 6 words ...

the pic i used was an oldie (1990, i think? ) taken in Arizona ... which is one of my very favourite places on earth ...

what a difference a day makes ...

here is my quiet little corner of the world ... at the beginning of the week, the sun was streaming in the living room inviting me to go enjoy the outdoors ... how could i resist? ... i went for a long bike ride and even had energy to wash the windows ....

here is the front deck this morning! during the night, there was a mini ice-storm, high winds and general yuckiness! i did venture out for a walk, but very gingerly! - the sidewalks had their slick spots!

these 2 little plaques my aunt bought me in toronto, made me smile ... especially as i watched the sheets of ice hit my clean windows this morning! ... i'm believing for all kinds of things - all the time ... but at this moment, i'm just hoping for the return of spring like weather!

blessing on ya!!!

mid week chatter

leo and i are reading "Destined for Glory" by Margaret Clarkson (click HERE for info on the author) ... i first read it back in the early 80's, when this pain walk was in it's infancy ... it has been a good re-read - 25 years later ...

from page 87:

"Perhaps the greatest good that suffering can work for a believer is to increase the capacity of his soul for God. Only when we are at the end of our own resources will many of us draw upon the wealth God longs to give us. As pain forces us to the limits of our own endurance, we come to discover God's strength; as it empties us of ourselves, we begin to experience God's fullness. The greater our need, the greater will be our capacity; the greater our capacity, the greater will be our experience of God."

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here is a search engine that can do some good ... http://www.goodsearch.com/ ... i got the site through billy graham's webpage ... this site donates to the charity of your choice when you use them for searches ... cool ...

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and just a little side note ... if you put your e-mail address in the spot that blogger asks for it, i will see it (it doesn't show up otherwise) in my e-mail (the comments are e-mailed to my yahoo address) and i can write back, if you want ... :o) ...

change of seasons

yesterday was my last work day at the library ... i now have 6 months off ... i job share with a lady who spends her winters in mexico ... and since she has had lovely weather for 6 months, she doesn't mind working through the manitoba summers ... i am really excited at the thought of having the summer off ... last year i had some of it off - that just wetted my whistle for more ...

i did take my bike out of the garage last week ... it was good to go for a spin around my little town ... the weather even cooperated ...

as i type this, the ice on the river is "rotten" ... there are patches of open water showing up ... one good rain should take care it ... i am looking forward to seeing waves again ... i'm looking forward to so many of the spring/summer events ... it is all exciting and makes me giddy happy ...

YAY for spring ... YAY for summer ... the Lord paints our world with 4 distinct seasons ... spring & summer are my definite favourites!

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. ~Anne Bradstreet

se on onnellinen ...

i sent this postcard to leo - from finland (i collect postcards, so what is leo's is mine as well! :o) ... )

here is a loose translation:

the person who is joyful (happy)
is the one who does not sorrow over what they don't possess
but rejoices (is content) with what they do have ...

isn't that a good saying !

to count our blessings - rather than to complain about the perceived lack of them ...

may you be joyful - content - happy this weekend ... enjoying God's grace and abundance in all things!

odd 'n ends pics ....

would you believe we had to get our big ole air canada 777 de-iced before we left toronto! no kidding!! the weather really was stormy on the way to finland ...

while staying with my aunt and uncle, i ate home made oatmeal porridge every morning, with perserved or frozen berries they had picked themselves, on top ... those were the BEST breakfasts i've ever had ...

the day before we left finland - we did a little shopping ... and look at what i spied in a bakery window ... dolls with cake dresses ... just like the one i had for my 6th birthday all those years ago here in canada ...

on the way home, they labelled my luggage (filled with lots of chocolate bars) as heavy ... that made me chuckle to myself!

in toronto, i got to do a little shopping at ikea ... sure wish that winnipeg had one of those stores ... this pic was taken from the ikea restaurant - a bit rainy, wouldn't you say?

our God is OverWhelming!!!!

thank you Lord! thank you praying buds!!!

we just got back from the doctor's ... the new doc had no problem in taking leo as a patient - in fact, he even remembered leo from our ER trip in august (everyone usually remembers leo ... )

then he asked if it would be more convenient for us to come to the clinic in our little town ... rather than the 20 minute trip to the hospital clinic ... *HUGE grin* ... we replied, yes - that would work out just fine!!! we live 2 streets away from our town's clinic ...

God is so merciful to us - in all ways ...

we are just so so thankful ...

YAY LORD!

and there was a lighter side too ...

despite the sad reason for going to finland ... there was a lighter side to the visit too ... and bonus blessings!

one of the blessings was spending time with my aunt maija (maternal side of family - my cousin who died was from my paternal side) ... she is only 6 years older than i am, and a really great travelling companion! no complaining and just a "we can do this" type of attitude ...

i was definitely "over fed" while away! ... one evening i was taken out for chinese food (in finland? why not? *grin* ... ) and the waitress spoke finn with a chinese accent - which i found so delightful!

i even enjoyed going into grocery stores ... it was fun to look at the different types of packaging and foods ... i am holding a package of "mammi", which is an Easter dish (it really looks awful, but tastes - "ok" ... ), something that would never be found in canada ...

oh - notice the wall of candy behind me - then check out the next picture ... :o) ...

leo loves loves loves - finnish chocolate ... so i brought him back a dozen bars - then the family kept on giving me more chocolate to take to leo - i ended up with 33 bars of fazer chocolate! the liquorice is yummy too ... i needed to borrow another bag just for the goodies .... yum ...

this is a scene from downtown tampere ... it was a snowy first few days there ... but when we left, the temperatuare rebounded to 56F and the snow was almost gone ...

just some scenes from the busy week i had ...

i didn't want to post too many "faces" of family - i usually ask permission before putting anyone on the world wide web ... but imagine many variations of my own features - that would be the faces of my cousins on dad's side ... my features from mom's side seem to be more subtle, tho' there ...

Lord bless your weekend!!!!

(note: leo's doctors appt. is this friday morning ... if you remember him ... us ... in prayer as we meet with this doctor leo saw at emerge last year ... we hope he will take leo on as a patient ... thank you!)

the day of the funeral

weather wise it was a bright, yet cold day ... the flag in the churchyard was at half mast ... arriving mourners got out of their cars and nodded at each other ... or if they hadn't seen my aunt and uncle yet - they wept and hugged them ... it was a heavy day emotionally ... even the children stood silently by, no running or loud voices ... just quiet ... my cousin had been a favourite with all his many nieces and nephews ...

the old wooden church had been the centre of my families life for generations ... the last time i had been in that church, was for a wedding ... today i followed the finnish tradition of laying my flowers by the casket and saying a word ... i read the words of comfort from a loving God ... Rev 21:4 "and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away" ... of course i spoke the words in finnish and they were just as comforting to me - because God's word heals in every language known to man ...

the service itself was scripturally sound and the minister spoke with warmth and faith in a God who loves us ... i was blessed by it ... as others were too ... we let our tears silently flow and opened up our hearts for God's healing to begin ...

when it was time to begin the last walk with my cousin, the flowers were picked up from the church alter by the children and then adults too (there were so many flowers) then taken outside to form an honour guard ...

the newly fallen snow cleaned up the world around us - purity was what came to my mind ... and the path we walked on, just gleamed ...

we all sang a hymn (well i hummed - since i didn't know the words in finn) ... and again took the flowers we had retrieved in the churchyard and placed them on the gravesite ...

afterwards we went to the church hall and had a time of sharing that lasted almost 3 hours ... there was all kinds of food (lovingly made by my aunt, cousins and neighbours) ... and more hymns to sing ... more hugging ... more sharing ... as well as acceptance that this was my cousin's time to go ... that God numbers our days ... and though we don't understand now - one day we will ...

i went to minister to my finnish family ... instead, i found that i was ministered too ... these sweet dear folk buried a love one with such respect and honour ... and God was woven so naturally into the day and the events ...

(note: all pictures, except the one of the finnish flag, were taken by a photographer that captured the day for the family - and also generously gave me a cd of it - he had been a friend of my cousins ... also, i notice that i had put rev 21:3 on an earlier post - it was actually rev 21:4 that i read at church)

God was my Travel Agent!

on a bus, in Finland ...

i'm safe at condo central again - in our little town!!!! it felt wonderful to pull into our own driveway ... to see leo waiting for me at our condo door ... to be home in my husband's arms once again ... thank you Lord!

yes, thank you LORD! ... He was my Travel Agent throughout this entire time ... this trip that just happened - without weeks and weeks of planning and hours of preparation ... yet it was the most organized and blessed trip i have ever been on ... i think i will definitely rely on this Heavenly Agency again!

my heart was prepared for a trip, even before my cousin died ... i knew that i was needing a time away from my life as wife and care giver ... but i didn't want to leave leo ... i stubbornly decided that he couldn't manage without my help ... maybe even made him so reliant on me, that he thought so too!

then the call ... a man in the prime of his life - died suddenly ... with that news, God began His work as my personal Travel Agent ...

leo and i both grieved from this vast distance across the atlantic ... i so wanted to mingle my tears with that of my finnish family ... and to hold them close ... but that didn't seem a possibility ...

with God all things are possible ...

my sweet aunt Maija offerred to travel with me ... with cheaper standby rates applying ...

leo immediately encouraged me to go ... and i felt that immediate "yes" response within me ...

everything fell into place ... the folks in our little town helped with getting the mail, delivering groceries, visiting leo, delivering a home made meal or two, paying bills ... you name it, they did it!

and as for the travel ...

even though the planes were "almost full", there was always a spot for us ...
even though the time table was tricky and we had to hike what seemed like miles in frankfurt - we made the boarding calls ...
and even in strange countries, strangers became friends by lending us their cell phones to make needed arrival time confirmations ...

we did not need to worry about one detail of the trip or travel - we just kept walking in faith and the way opened up ... Praise the Lord ... and bless all you who prayed ...

i was even lent a cell phone while in Finland ... which meant leo could call me anytime, anywhere ... i never even thought of asking for a finnish cell phone - but Someone had arranged it for me - it was good to know that i could be reached 24/7 ... and leo DID call me every day ...

while in finland, the travel was arranged by family ... and i prayed that the Lord would arrange who i spent longer periods of my short visiting time with - He did all of that and more ...

coming home, all travel went just as smoothly ... right down to NO waiting time for luggage or pickups at the airports! it seemed that all doors swung open with ease ...

i only spent one night in toronto ... the last leg of the journey was supposed to happen sunday night - but i felt the need to be home on friday ... i called westjet to change the ticket ... a $40 fee was supposed to apply, however the cheerful agent told me that i didn't need to pay $40 and i would also be getting a refund - because the friday flight was much cheaper than the sunday flight!!! can you believe that? i smiled, my Heavenly Travel Agency does EXCELLENT work!

my plane coming home left toronto early and also arrived in winnipeg 20 minutes early! i got curb side pickup from family, who had stored my car in their heated garage - then i was headed home before it got dark! *smile* ...

i highly recommend God as a Travel Agent ... especially for the journey through this life ...

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." 1 Peter 2:9

p.s. i will post pics of the funeral day later on ...

in Canada

i am at my aunt's place here in Toronto as i type this!

the journey back home went so well ... super well ... we made tight connections and had an uneventful trip (except maybe the sideway bumping landing in Toronto!) ... and i am now waiting looking forward to getting home to my leo!

:o)

i've appreciated your prayer ... it has made my trip so blessed!

soon - i hope to be at my own computer and sharing pics ...

i fly out in the late evening ...

just an FYI!

Lord bless you guys!