Went out for my first bike ride in about 6 months. What a beautiful day.
No mosquitos. Lots of warm sun. Just about perfect.
I wonder what my legs will say tomorrow.
Monthly Archives: April 2007
Stories
This morning I walked into the operatory to see a patient seated there. He pointed at one of my family pictures and asked me about the picture of my daughter and her son (which is already a year old so I need a new one). So I told him who they were, how we had come to adopt Grace into our family and a bit about the Congo. In return he told me a story.
There was a time when Nelson Mandela visited Canada. At that time he was welcomed and honoured by three leaders from Canada’s First nations. My patient had been chosen to represent his people. The opportunity to meet Mr Mandela had been one of the highlights of his life and a great honour for him.
At the time of the visit a traditional sash was presented by this gentleman to Mr. Mandela. It seems that when a sash is presented on such an occasion, the person it is given to must also be named. He bestowed on Mr. Mandela the name “Diamond.”
He told Mr Mandela that the name was chosen because his life had shone like a strong light in the world. There is no better stone that reflects the light than a diamond.
Meeting people and hearing their stories – one of the perks of my job. Most of the time they are just simple stories, often stories about fear, sometimes stories of pain, sometimes stories that make me laugh. But this story was one of the really good ones. I was honoured to have him share it with me.
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Sara checking in
Last night we got a call from Sara over in Thailand. It was good to hear her and to hear that the trip has been wondeful so far.
She said it is weird to be treated s first class visitors – as if they were some rich people.
She probably dosen’t realize fully juyst how rich she is by comparison. And it is fairly special to us (her dad and I) that we have been able to enrich a child’s life in many ways. I still remember giving her the first doll she’d ever had, the first paper and pencils to just scribble away as much as she wanted.
When a child calls from far away, there is a special realization that they are precious. It is good just to hear their voice.
Enjoy the rest of the trip Sara.
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Hard up for entertainment
This weekend we had a death in the family. Our washing machine has been in our home for a little over fifteen years. Used pretty much every day. It hasn’t broken down much until this last year.
Thursday night it died for good. I think the motor just wore out. Bad noises and bad smell – like hot metal or rubber or both.
We decided it was time to replace it. So we got one of those fancy front loading pairs. It has more control buttons than the VCR or DVD. No remote.
This morning Leo informed me that he was going to come home at noon and watch the DVD instruction video that came with it; then put in a load.
I told him we were hard up for entertainment when we had to resort to watching this flick! He’s pretty excited about his new toys! 🙂
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The goodness of this Easter
It was a good Easter.
That sounds a bit trite I guess, but Easter is good. It is a celebration and it brings good into the realm of possibility for us.
So today was just good in many little ordinary ways.
The Sunrise service. The freezing cold morning – so clear. Everyone coming in for hot drinks and buns to our home.
The worship service. It is usually good but having a son there who hasn’t been for a long time drumming with our worship band made it good in more ways than just good music.
And then thirteen or so people for dinner. Turkey, ham and all the stuff that goes with it. Good food and good company.
Celebrations should be like today.
And I know I have used good way too many times. But today was – good.
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Cousins
Today I was a babysitting Grandmother to two young men. Very young and very special.
We went for a walk down the path by the river, both of them sporting bright yellow rubber boots. Kieran is an old hand at snow and puddles. So he climbed up the piles of snow and slid down again. He splashed vigourously in each puddle we went by.
Zaka is pretty new at this stuff. The puddle splashing he got real well but that snow – must have been too cold. Or too slippery. He avoided even stepping on it. Since there is still quite a bit of snow that meant I got to carry him. He has packed a few pounds on – soon he’ll catch up in weight and size to his older cousin.
Those two sure kept me busy.
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Good Friday
The service at St George’s was very small. About one third Covenanters.
I overheard a couple of women in the row ahead of me whisper their disapproval of the way the day is treated by the commercial establishments in town. They do not even bother to wait till noon to open on this,one of the most holy of Christian holy days.
But there we were – just a few of us to be sure – and the Spirit of God was among us.
I like that service – reading the passion account together. Participating in an ancient liturgy. Kind of gives a sense of continuity to the faith.
The sermon was good, reflective. Brought us to consider forgiveness and what a strong theme this is in the Christian faith. And of course we have the possibility of forgiveness only because of what Christ did for us on this day – Good Friday. He gave us his own self; God gave us a way out of our sin once and for all time.
I liked that we were given time to simply reflect on the cross.
Of course the singing could have been stronger. The key the songs were written in sure could have been lower. But I think God was honoured by it. He didn’t make us all perfect singers and we just sang as our voices permitted.
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A Visit
So there we are tonight, gathered around the table, reading the story of the days events; Jesus washing his friends feet, showing them one more time what it means to be a servant, and then leaving them with a meal to remember him by. And there sharing the table with us is a strange couple. Well, strange to us anyway. We all know each other so well and are so comfortable with each other and good friends. But none of us really know this couple.
They were hoping the church might have a loaf of bread and maybe some eggs they could get from our small food box that we keep on hand.
All we had to offer them was a bit of bread and wine/juice.
As we went to prayer I found I could not give voice to my prayers. My prayers, prayed out of my comfortable circumstances seemed petty. I know they are not but tonight as this couple raised their voices with prayers for their families, my heart cried out to God for love. Because it seems to me that it is easy to love people in the abstract and it is easy to love institutions and groups that provide for needy people, but when they show up in your midst it raises things to a whole new level.
And I honestly don’t know if I love any where near the level required of me as a follower of the one who gave everything. So that is what I was praying for.
I didn’t know Jesus would visit us tonight in this form.
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Thailand
Today Sara leaves for Thailand with the PA Youth Travel Club. She is our world traveler and is pretty excited about this trip. All except for the 11 hour flight from Los Angeles to Bangkok tomorrow. She tends to get airsick so has her Gravol with her.
She misses 5 days of school and is a bit anxious about that. But I think the experience is going to be well worth it for her.
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Pancakes for cancer
This morning we shut down the office for an hour so we could all attend the Cancer Society’s pancake breakfast fundraiser. We cashed in our bottles and had more than enough for all of us to go. We are cheap!
Good pancakes for a good cause.
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