The Breath of God

I had come across this verse in the Bible when I was searching for the perfect verse. I found it! It was just the perfect verse for this photo.

When you think of the breath of God, God being over all the earth, and His breath covering it - it's as beautiful as the frost. Just think of that verse very deeply - "By the breath of God, frost is given." It gives me tingles of awe down my spine.

Up at the lake, this one particular winter the frost was just beautiful too. The trees and the roads were just white. In these pictures the frost was already beginning to come off but the winter wonderland is still incredibly vivid. The sky was so blue. These were taken first thing in the morning when the sun had just come up - that is when the sky is at it's bluest.
This cross is at the top of Memorial hill. It's always amazing to me the different colors of the sky. When you turn towards the sun, the colors are much whiter but in the other two pictures when I have my back to the sun, the colors of the sky are the richest blues. It makes pictures so unique.


I love it when God paints. His paintings are out of this world. His handiworks are done by His Hand alone and are the absolute best ever. I just can't seem to get enough of trying to capture the beauty that He displays for all creation to witness, to see. What an amazing God we have!

Obituary of Common Sense

This was sent to me by email and I wanted to share it with you - kinda makes you think a little.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, that life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Panadol, sun lotion or a Band Aid to a student - but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, Churches became businesses, and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm A Victim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

O Lord God, teach us to remember Your Words and Your instructions to us. Forgive us Father when we neglect to use the common sense that You've given us and begin to live by the world's standards rather than Yours. Give us the strength and the courage God to stand strong in the faith through the power of the Holy Spirit. Give us wisdom to teach our children Your ways as instructed in Your Word, the Bible. Help us all to come to a complete understanding of what Your Son Jesus Christ did when He died on the cross to give us the gift of salvation. He didn't stay on that cross, He rose again and is now in Heaven preparing a place for us. Teach us Father, help us to be open to Your guidance and direction. We know You will never leave us - You will always be there for us when we choose to follow You. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Goodbyes

Today I said goodbye to my good friend Colleen as her and her family went back to Bolivia. It's so hard for me to believe that I was there. Now I know where they're going and where they'll be flying. It was so different visiting with them here this time around because now I could relate to what they were saying and I knew who they were talking about. It was sooooo good having them out here.
Their adopted boy Jackson got lots of attention. He was sooo adorable!! We loved having him over.
Colleen's been such a good friend, a great kindred spirit. We had some wonderful time together. She had done a great scrapbook page of me and her and of my visit to her in Bolivia. This picture was taken of us at her home. I'll miss her so much, as usual. I thank God for her and for bringing her family into my life so many years ago. God please keep her family safe travelling back to Bolivia. Jake & Dorothy Fehr went back to Bolivia at the same time, on the same flight. That is so special.

I'm sorry Jordan and Joelle - I didn't get any pictures of you when you were out here this time. I can't believe it!! Me, the picture lady, didn't even take a family picture of them this time. How bad is that!! The only picture I have of Larry & Colleen here is the one above that I took of them at our house. That's it!! Oh well! That's the way it went this time.

God, thank you for good friends. Thank you for kindred spirits. No matter how far we are away from each other, Your Holy Spirit brings us together in prayer and in heart. Thank you for that. Be with them Lord, until we meet them again. Watch over them in Bolivia and keep them safe. Thank you for each friend you have brought through my life, for each and every one. Be with them all. Amen.

Kids & Coke

Our poor dog!! He gets quite the treatment from our kids at some time. Here the kids had put socks on Coke - he wasn't too impressed. But we love him - we'd miss him a lot if he wasn't with us. He has brought much joy to our family and our kids. He's good at keeping me company during the day when the house is empty and quiet.

Here the girls are bing big helpers at The Barn Playhouse during the time that Brandon was acting in the play during their Dinner Theatre. Here they were in the Craft Barn.
Brandon doesn't like to get his picture taken but the odd time we do get one of him. Here Mrs. G. had taken a surprise photo of him while they were visiting us up at the lake on Christmas Eve. He loves the sledding and the snow. I don't think it matters how old boys (men) get, there's always some little boy left in them. :-)


On our drive to the lake, there was a couch sitting in the ditch. I just had to take a picture of it. It was a good spot because if you sat on the couch, you had a wonderful view of the valley.


Thank you God for times with our family. Fro the laughs, the talks, the sad times, the joyous times. They're all good times and the good Lord has many things to teach us during those times.

Aftermath of Blizzard 2006

Here are some pictures of the aftermath of the blizzard that we had here. Snow just stuck everywhere. The mound in the snow is a vehicle buried under a drift.
At the school, the drifts were covering the windows. It was incredible! The snow piles from the parking lot were as high as the roof.
People had snow drifts and snow piles up to their windows and doors. It looked like they had tunnels going to their front door.



But it was so picturesque! Definitely postcard pictures out in this winter wonderland. It was really quite beautiful in spite of the narrow streets and rock hard drifts. 

Blizzard of 2006

Worst blizzard in 50 years just hit us! WOW! What a doozer!! This is Roger doing some shovelling outside during one of the worst parts. We couldn't see past our front railing our window. It was unreal! We went for a couple block walk as a family and what an experience! We wanted to experience this blizzard firsthand - definitely something our kids will never forget! We're walking in the middle of the street, not seeing a thing - no houses, no cars (which we often walked into as they were parked on the side of the street) and we could hardly even see each other. We had to hold hands cause otherwise we lost sight. It was so easy to get disoriented and mix-up in our directions. I can't imagine what it was like for someone trying to drive in this. People were stranded in their vehicles for 4-6 hours and only a block from a gas station. People had no idea where they were. I sure was glad to be back home safe and warm.
The next day, I went out and took pictures after the streets were cleared. There were walls of snow piles everywhere! Vehicles were 3/4 hidden under snow drifts.
It was so beautiful though! With all the snow on the trees - it was gorgeous! A winter wonderland. But it took a couple of days for people to get cleared out of their driveways and farmyards. We had up to 25 cm in 24 hours.
Between Osler and Saskatoon, 36 cars were counted in the ditches the next morning. People just couldn't see. I spoke to this one man who was driving from Saskatoon to Warman (20 km apart) and he threw up out the window continually as he drove because he was so disoriented it made him severely sick. He had to work hard at not passing out continually while he slowly drove home. There have only been 3 deaths reported from the blizzard of people who left their vehicle to walk somewhere.

Thank you God that it wasn't much worse than this. Thank you for warmth and power and shelter. Thank you that there were no power outages or furnace breakdowns in our home. Thank you for keeping us safe and warm. Thank you for the many, many good samaritans, good people that helped others and provided shelter for those who were stranded. Thank you for my family and that we're together. 

SASKATOON'S NEW YEAR'S BABY

I'm so excited! We have a New Year's Baby and I know her!! We're friends with the family and they attend our church. Beth & I also are in Bible Study together.
This child is most darling!! She is just perfect!! Her name is Grace. She's famous you know - she had her family's pictures on the front of the Star Phoenix on Jan. 3 issue.
Her complexion is so clear! Her tiny hands and feet are priceless. What a beautiful creation of God!



Thank you God for babies! They are most precious and special! You've created us individually and so uniquely in our mother's womb! How awesome are your works O Lord!! Thank you God! 

Food for Thought

I got this on email and I really liked it so I thought I'd share it with you all. God bless you and have a good day!


FOOD FOR THOUGHT
DAYS OF THE WEEK

Monday - Wash Day

Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and vanity, so I may serve you with perfect humility through the week ahead.

Tuesday - Ironing Day

Dear Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles of prejudice I have collected through the years so that I may see the beauty in others.

Wednesday - Mending Day

O God, help me mend my ways so I will not set a bad example for others.

Thursday - Cleaning Day

Lord Jesus, help me to dust out all the many faults I have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart.

Friday - Shopping Day

O God, give me the grace to shop wisely so I may purchase eternal happiness for myself and all others in need of love.

Saturday - Cooking Day

Help me, my Savior, to brew a big kettle of brotherly love and serve it with the clean, sweet bread of human kindness.

Sunday - The Lord's Day

O God, I have prepared my house for you. Please come into my heart so I may spend the day and the rest of my life in your presence.

Jesus is Love

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone
you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

Christmas at the Lake

For the first time since we've had our cottage at the lake, we were able to have Christmas up there this year. What a blessing that was!! We haven't seen this much snow so early in the year here ever - and then to have so much before Christmas too. It was great!

We had some pretty special visitors that week which included Mr. & Mrs. G. - 2 very very special people in our life. They brought some of their kids up for some excellent winter fun on Christmas Eve.

On Boxing Day, we had some of the Mont Nebo church family up for an afternoon of sledding and fellowship. It was a great day - the weather was beautiful and it was so good to get to know this extended part of our family more. I think they all had a lot of fun! We were trying out all parts of the hill for sledding and also taking everyone for rides behind the snowmobile with the GT and the sled. The kids took turns giving each other rides. Made for a great afternoon of huge smiles, lots of laughs, snow face washes and cold cheeks but warm hearts from these great new friendships.


Christmas Day began with very excited kids but never too excited to overlook reading the Christmas story. It's our tradition to begin the day with the reading of the Christmas story from the Bible. We all look forward to it - having that special family time with this Bible reading and prayer time to remind us what the day is really about and not just about opening and receiving gifts. It's a reminder of God's greatest gift of all to mankind - the sending of His Son down to earth to give us the gift of salvation and eternal life for all who believe on Jesus. What a wonderful day and a wonderful promise.

God gave me a very special gift on this Christmas Day. I was struggling in my heart with having to share this day with others and did not want to leave. We always have special time with Roger's family on Christmas Day as well each year. But this year I just wanted to have time with my own family on Christmas. I gave it to God and went with a willing heart and God blessed me. On our drive to Roger's mom's home, we saw a bull moose sitting in the clearing beside the road. I've never seen a bull moose before and I got some great shots!! He was beautiful!! I'll post them once I get them developed. He was too far away to take pics with the digital camera so I had to use my long lens. Thank you God!! If I hadn't been obedient to what God wanted me to do on this Christmas Day, I wouldn't have been blessed with seeing the moose because had we stayed home, we wouldn't have driven down this road. So, I considered that a gift from God on Christmas Day on top of the wonderful gift of spending time with family on Christmas.

On New Year's Eve, we had some more friends come share the day. It was a wonderful time with them. As couples, we went on a really good snowmobile ride for a couple of hours. Later in the evening, we got to go down to the lake and watch fireworks. That was so cool!! Another great day!

Thank you God for my family and our extended families, mine and Roger's. I pray that You would bless them all Lord and that they would all be drawn closer to You. Thank You for the extended family of believers all around us Lord and the special times we can spend together. Bless them all Lord and be with them. Thank you God for our health so that we can enjoy these special times - I especially thank you for giving me back my health and making me stronger. Thank you God for the many many blessings you have bestowed on us. You have blessed us Lord so that we may in turn be a blessing to others. Thank you for this wonderful place we can come to and share with others. Thank You for the many special people you have brought through our lives. God, may You touch each and every heart and draw them all closer to You. Bless us all in the coming New Year. Amen