Out and About on a Saturday in May

I recently discovered a Canadian author who has now become my favourite. I was first introduced to her book, "The Winter Sea," by a good friend of mine. I was skeptical at first when I learned of the premise, however, as soon as I began to read this historical fiction novel, I couldn't put it down. Susanna Kearsley captured my attention. I was thrilled to learn she would be making an appearance at our local Chapters bookstore on Saturday. Without my friend in tow ( she is in Italy with her hubby) , I braved the stormy weather and experienced my first author sighting/signing.

I was a wee bit nervous as I had no idea what to expect nor what to say to Susanna. I was pleasantly surprised by her down- to- earth nature and easy way. We had a wee chat where I discovered she lives in my hometown. Then she agreed to a photo-op and book signing.
I had a lovely experience. Later that afternoon, I headed up to the small town of Port Perry to visit my friend Lisa. At one point, we toured the countryside en route to pick up her son from a friend's house. I love the barns in Ontario and had to stop for a photo - op. We are slowly losing our farms in this area to developers, so I will treasure this photo.
I loved this log cabin home where we picked up T.
Tip-toeing through the tulips!
A lovely "out-and-about" excursion on a rainy Saturday in May!

Where was I?

Where was I when the genocide in Rwanda was annihilating innocent lives?

I have been reading, "Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust," by Immaculee Ilibagiza this afternoon and this poignant question kept entering my thoughts.

I was living in Alberta at the time and barely recall any news reports about these atrocities taking place in Rwanda. I don't even recall praying for the people of Rwanda at church. How did I ignorantly disregard what was happening to my fellow human beings overseas? How did I miss this? What could I have done? As tears stream down my face, I wonder how weeping for the victims and survivors of this holocaust will help them now.

I am still processing all that I have read in this incredible book. I am utterly speechless at the courage and strength of this woman, Immaculee. I am amazed at her ability to cling to Jesus and extend grace and forgiveness amidst the horrific events she endured, witnessed and heard. Her faith in God is a miracle and an astounding example for mankind.

Where was I?

My Week

What a crazy week I had - crazy in the good sense of the word!

School Highlights:

Monday:

I asked politely, and with a please thrown in, for a grade 8 student to pick up the book he kicked halfway across the room. He looked at me and said, "you can't tell me what to do." My dream response involved some expletives, but thankfully I held my tongue and used the calm, silent treatment and stern look to get him to pick up the book!!! The supply teacher was not helpful so I went to our SERT ( special ed resource teacher) for help! I eventually got an apology with an added, "I didn't know I was kicking a book. I just knew something was in my way." Ah, teenagers!!:)

Wednesday:

I attended an "Education For All" conference at our local Board of Education office. The keynote speaker, John Draper, is a friend and former employer. He was amazing! Check out his website! As a person with a physical disability, he has wise, funny and valuable insights into how we can build inclusive communities in our schools!

Thursday:

My sweet "D" sneezed in the presence of my co-worker, Kim. Kim wasn't paying attention to the sneeze so sweet "D" yells, "Kim....God Bless You." (What "D" really meant, "Kim, you need to say to me, God Bless You.") Immediately, Kim responded, "Oh sorry "D"....God Bless You!" Apparently "D" gave her a dirty look which said, "how dare you forget to say God Bless You when I sneeze!!"

Friday:

The students were "wanky"...maybe it was the rain! The grade 2 boy I work with in the morning, "T" was off -the -charts- hyper, mixed with a defiant attitude. At one point in the morning, we went to run an errand in the library. My sweet "S" was there with her class. She has always had trouble with pronouns and today was no exception BUT, it was sooooo perfectly in context! "S" came running over to me to say hi and check out my accessories for the day! Towering over "T", she glanced at him then turned to me and asked in her east Indian accent, "WHAT is that?" In my mind, I am thinking, " oh yes, WHAT is my dear "T"...he is an enigma today!! " Unfortunately, I had to correct her grammar to "WHO is that?" It was a priceless moment! Don't go thinking I'm a terrible EA !!! lol! My co-workers that heard the story all laughed as well!!

In my next class, I had a boy ask me how old I was. As I hesitated in silence for a moment contemplating how to respond, he asked if he could guess my age. Sure...this would be interesting. He asked, "are you 2o?" I didn't want to crush his spirit so I just smiled and left the room!!:)

In the afternoon, my sweet "D" came up to me at snack and said, "no Rice Krispy square?" followed by a high five!:) She was trying to manipulate me into giving her a Rice Krispy square thinking I didn't know she was a little monkey all afternoon and was not allowed to have one!!! Apparently, she tried to pee in the drain in the bathroom, spit all over everything, steal YoGo's from her fellow classmates, etc. Good thing she is soooo cute!!:):)

On a sad note, we have many teachers dealing with difficult personal issues. It is my prayer I can be a support in some way to them during this season of their lives.

Personal Highlights:

Monday:

I am a volunteer driver for a community organization that helps adults who are unable to drive to their doctor's appointments. Today, I drove an interesting special needs family!:) Our conversation felt like we were all part of a three ring circus!:) It was great!:)

Tuesday:

My mostly all white choir was trying to master an amazing black gospel song! We are slowly getting the rhythm down!:) At least we have the heart!

Wednesday:

Girls Night Out. I look forward to it every week! It never fails that our conversation always turns to "colourful", real, and honest dialogue! Don't worry, it is not x-rated- this is a church group after all!!:):) This particular Wednesday was no exception. One of the girls that comes is a teacher. She taught us an interesting, "inspiring" lesson based on this book:



Hopefully this information will come in handy one day! !!! Can you believe there is a book on this topic?!!!

Thursday:

Book Club dinner meeting. Book of the month: "The God Delusion." Had a lovely dinner and interactive discussion at this amazing Italian restaurant!

Friday:


I got to hang out with my 19-year old niece. She is a graphic design student and has this funky photo program on her computer. Here are a couple of pics of the two of us:

After our photo op, we decided to go to the movies. On our way to see "Penelope", we stopped at the corner store so I could visit the ATM machine! My niece decided to purchase a Monopoly Lotto Ticket.

A winning ticket...
... so we believed for about 5 minutes! My niece was playing this game while I was driving and all of a sudden she started screaming, "I won a Jaguar. " I was speechless. At first I thought she was pulling a belated April Fool's joke on me but then I quickly realized her screams were serious! I couldn't believe it! So, we called my parents to tell them, well scream in their ears, the good news!! Being wonderful grandparents, they started giving some wise advice to my niece!! While they were giving the pep talk, I decided I better check the ticket again. To the dismay of my niece, I found there was an error. Not a winning ticket! What a roller coaster of emotions we experienced! We finally made it to the movie and continued to laugh about our "winning/losing" ticket!

I cherish these times I get to spend with my niece! It was the highlight of my week!

love like that

"Watch what God does, and then you do it...mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with Him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of Himself to us. Love like that." (Ephesian 5: 1ff-The Message)

I read this passage this afternoon and several things spoke to me.

First, God gently reminded me that I need to keep better company with Him. It is the only way to know Him and the only way to learn from Him. He is truth and in order to know that truth I need to be more diligent in spending time in His Word. It is easy for me to read my little "Echoes of Eternity" devotional ( which is great by the way) and pray but lately I have been skipping my Bible reading. It is imperative especially as I am participating in an interesting book club at work.

Our book this month is called, "The God Delusion," by Richard Dawkins. He is a professor at Oxford who happens to be an atheist. In this book he sets out to, "eviscerate the arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of the existence of a supreme being. He makes a case that faith is not just irrational but potentially deadly."

I prayerfully decided to purchase this book and read it. It is tough to plough through and is not witty or humourous as promoted on the back cover! A friend of mine gave me a copy of a rebuttal from a Christian author, which is a helpful supplement. I enjoy hearing the various arguments but want to make sure I am not subtly sucked into his definition of truth. Thus, my need to "keep company with God" and be diligent in studying the Bible - studying Truth! I look forward to our book club discussion. At this point, I must digress a bit and share a neat story related to this book.

One of my co-workers, who is also in the book club, was in a car accident last week on her way to work. It was the morning of one of our bad snowstorms, so the roads were terrible. She ended up crossing the road into the oncoming traffic and hit a sign ending up in the ditch. She hit no other vehicles and had little damage done to her car - though clearly shaken. When she was telling me her story, she ended by saying:

"After I read 'The God Delusion,' it confirmed what I had always believed, but now I definitely think there is a God up there - no there is a God- he spared my life."

At that moment, I silently sent up a thank you prayer to God and then I said to her, "yes there is a God and He definitely looked out for you!" God used this "garbley- gooped" ( is that a word...I hope so!!) book - a book setting out to disprove God exists- to reveal Himself to my co-worker! God is AMAZING! It confirmed that I am to continue trudging through this book and be His voice, even though He doesn't need me to be His voice, at our book club meeting! The Truth will set you free!!!

Secondly, this passage spoke to me about how we are to love. In society today, it is all about " what will you give me in return for_________" You fill in the blank. Love has become conditional. Even in the church. One of the reasons I wished God allowed me to have children of my own was so I could understand His unconditional love more. But, the great news is all I need to do is keep company with Him and I will learn a life of unconditional love. Watch, observe, remember the Cross! As I take an honest look at my heart, most times my love is conditional. Keep better company with Jesus Karyne so His UNCONDITIONAL love will permeate to all those you encounter. Real love. How radical. People in this world need to know real love. Truth. The Cross. Jesus. Love like that!