Monthly Archives: May 2009

May 31, 2009 · 4:47 pm

Lets see now,

Why was I taking this Greek class again?

I just wrote my final.  It was long.  And hard. 

The Mid-term was only about 3 pages and I had two hours to do it.  The Final was about 8 pages and I only had two hours to do it. 

Needless to say, there were parts that I did not complete.

I really do not know if I passed this exam.  I hope my good marks throughout the year will help me pass but I have no idea.

But its done and now on with the next course.  I have 2 books to read this week and a paper to write.  So I probably won’t blog much till after we get back from Chicago. 

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May 25, 2009 · 9:36 am

A Quote

We cannot prove our love of God except by loving our fellow humans. Jesus Christ loved God precisely by loving his fellow men and women.

– Anthony Wilhelm,
Christ Among Us (1967)

Via Sojourners

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May 23, 2009 · 9:55 pm

Just listening

Here I stand on my loft deck looking over the river on the fading daylight. There are the inevitable background city sounds. Across the river there is traffic on the highway. But here, it is very still. I am listening to the gueese settling on the river for the night and to the songbirds that are still up.

This is a good place to be.

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May 22, 2009 · 10:27 am

On a less stressful note

It is my hubby and best friend’s birthday today.  He joins me now in my old age. 

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Sixty years suits him well I think.  He gets to become a doting grandfather and having lost well over 100 lbs in the last year, he has more energy to invest in life.  In fact, he was off to play golf at 6 am today to begin his birthday celebrations.

Looking forward to the next batch of years we have together.

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May 22, 2009 · 9:41 am

Stress

I have one high stress week coming up.  Next Saturday morning I am writing my final exam in Greek. 

I wrote my last quiz this morning.  As I was writing it, I could recognise the way I react to stress.  My mind sort of shuts down.  It simply goes blank.  I have studied and studied and I should know the answers but my brain searches the database and give me one of those “page not found” messages.

So, this morning I was dealing with this reaction of mine, sort of watching it happen and then having to decide that my mind is giving me a false message.  To do this I have to sit and regurgitate some of the facts that I know I know instead of looking at the question being asked.  Once I do that, once I write out one verbal declension, it all sort of falls back into place – mostly anyway. 

But there is much to review and so I doubt that I will post much this  coming week.  Of course, sometimes it is good to get away from the books and see what is going on in the world with my friends.

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May 19, 2009 · 10:20 pm

Snow And Ice

I would post a picture but I have misplaced my point and shoot camera.  And besides, it is too depressing.  Everything is covered in snow and ice. 

Poor budding branches.  Poor frozen leaves.

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May 14, 2009 · 7:21 am

Quote from Eternal Echoes by John O’Donohue

 

Every day of your life joy is waiting for you, hidden at the heart of the significant things which happen to you or secretly around the corner of quieter things. If your heart loves delight, you will always be able to discover the quiet joy that awaits to shine forth in many situations. Prayer should help us develop the habit of delight. We weight the notion of prayer with burdens of duty, holiness and the struggle for perfection. Prayer should have the freedom of delight. It should arise from and bring us to humour, laughter, and joy. Religion often suffers from a great amnesia; it constantly insists on the seriousness of God and forgets the magic of the divine glory. Prayer should be the wild dance of the heart, too. In the silence of our prayer we should be able to sense the roguish smile of a joyful god who, despite all the chaos and imperfection, ultimately shelters everything.

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May 11, 2009 · 8:40 am

I Think

That this was one of the best Mother’s Days ever for me.  I think I may have said that before.  Maybe it just keeps getting better each year. 

I was preaching in the morning service at church and so of course what other topic was there that made more sense to speak on than women and how we are created in the image of God.  God has used brave and intelligent women in his story throughout history and he wants us to experience the fullness of who he created us to be.

And I got to preach to my children.  What mother can pass that up?  🙂

Then home to a good family barbeque.

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Eric was in command on the barbeque cooking up his bacon wrapped venison filet mignon, corn on the cob and a lake trout that Sara caught last summer.  Delicious! I even splurged in celebration of the day and had some of the dessert provided by Grace.  Plus ice cream. 

The kids got me some lovely gifts too.  A garden rake – and then Patrick raked the back yard.  A hanging basket of flowers that it is still too cold to put outside.  And a gift certificate so I can buy some more books.

The afternoon was beautiful and we spent a lot of time out on the back deck in the sun.  Kimia was toddling around and got her exercise going up and down the stairs – both inside and out.  Then she ran into a wall and got a big goose egg!  But that was after these cute pictures.

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Perhaps what made the day so great was just having my family around.  And that includes the two Conngolese guys that we welcome as part of us. And the kids farther away called and it was so good to chat with them.

I am so blessed.

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May 9, 2009 · 6:08 pm

Friends are so great

Today I was planning so many things to do.  Our turn for serving soup was here and I wanted to help.  However, I have a sermon to preach tomorrow and a LOT of studying to do to finish up my Greek course.  (It seems as if the closer I get to the final, the more stuff is filling up my evenings and keeping me from studying.)

Anyway, last night I went out.  My friend, A, was involved in a show with some of her art and I really wanted to go both to support her and to see her latest works.  So I did.  The glass of wine was a nice way to relax as I walked around with other friends and we took in the show.  I was so tired last night having spent a good part of the day in the OR.  And other friends were there and told me that I would only be needed for a part of the day to help in the soup kitchen.  That bit of news was such a relief. 

Then this morning I got a call and was told that so many other folks from church had come to help that they would not need me at all. 

There was another load lifted away!  I love to help and so I miss being there but this time studying and sermon prep did need to take priority.  I see this as one of the little ways that God watches out for me.  It might just look like luck to you but whatever, I see God in this.

So, I have been studying  pretty much all day, except for a trip up to Canadian Tire to pick up a few necessities. 

Now, since it is finally warm again, I might just take the bike out for a few minutes.

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May 6, 2009 · 10:36 pm

Who would have thought

Yesterday was shorts weather.

Today…

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