35 Random Acts of Kindness for my 35th Birthday - Part 2

Alrighty, ready for the next seven!?

8.  The kids and I headed to the Dollar Store to do some hiding.  Of course, they were so good at hiding that when we went back the next week all but one of their surprises were still there!!  So it was time to hide again (and make it a little easier to find this time).  They each hid 2 of the below notes in the kids section so that some kids would find it and be able to enjoy a special treat. This note was written by my sweet Abbi!

9.  While we were there, Sadie and I filled all the candy and toy machines with quarters and toonies and then turned them just so you couldn't see the money in it.  Would have been fun to be there when those were discovered!

10.  I enjoy baking and every holiday season I hand out baking to the neighbours but I always miss two neighbours on our street.  Our next door neighbours, whom I had never formally met before and I'm ashamed to say we've lived here for almost 8 years, and another neighbour a few doors down.  So I was prepared this year to hand out baking and make sure not to miss a house.  We headed down to our usual stops and then walked over to the 'new' house at the end.  We knew one man who lived there as he always lets the kids play with his big dog but the man who answered the door was someone entirely else!  I don't think I'd ever seen him before so we introduced ourselves and gave him the card and goodies and headed out to the next house.  When we arrived home from holidays, there was a card in our mailbox addressed 'To our good neighbours' from the family!  Just a little kindness can go a long way.

We also introduced ourselves to our next-door neighbours who we see from afar all the time but haven't really chatted with (or should I say 'I' haven't really chatted with) and they were very grateful for the gift as well.  It was so lovely to make the new connections in our community.

11, 12, and 13.  This year we gave cards to both the driver and runner of the people who pick up our garbage, recycling and compost.  They all do a stinky job but do it without complaint and work hard so we wanted to thank them.  I noticed that they often have their ear buds in as they run from can to can so I gave each person (a total of 6) a Christmas card with a  $10 iTunes card in it so they could purchase some new music to listen to.  The compost guys came first and were very enthusiastically grateful, then the Recyclers and then the Garbage guys who I had to just leave on the garbage can as we were heading out to work but I'm hopeful that they got it.

This was the FIRST time I had thanked our public servicemen and I did notice one thing about my neighbours - it definitely wasn't the first time for Grandma Rose!  Grandma Rose is the sweet lady that lives across from us and she is the resident grandmother to all neighbourhood children.  As I ran out to give my gift, she was ready with a package full of baking.  She is one of those people you just CANNOT out-give...and believe me, I have tried.  I would make her a jar of soup and she would return the jar full of chocolates and jelly beans. I would bring her dinner, she would bring me baking. I just had to come to grips with the fact that she could not be out given!!  She is such a wonderful example of a generous spirit; I am so blessed to have her living across from us.  All that to say, she is a thoughtful lady and, of course, she would remember to bless those men too!

14.  Make a Donation to the Food Bank - This one was generously done by Amy and Jakey on behalf of me.  Amy and her 4 year old son dropped of donations to the food bank and Jakey was 'pleased as punch' to be a part of my birthday by giving me this gift.  Thank you Amy and Jakey!!

35 Random Acts of Kindness for my 35th Birthday - Part 1

So I decided to do something big for my 35th Birthday.  I wanted to do something special that I wouldn't forget.  I want this year to be a great one...so I started searching the internet for birthday ideas and when I came across a myriad of people doing Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) for their birthdays, it sat just right with me.  I made a list and posted it on Facebook and with the help of my friends and family have accomplished my goal.  Through the month of December I hit almost half of them and then did about 14 on my birthday and finished the rest in early January.  Some people do all of them on their birthday but my day was pretty full just doing that amount so I'm glad I didn't make myself crazy and try to fit in everything in just one day!!  So you wanna know what I did?  Here it goes!

1.  December 2nd came along and so did a post about Dressember.  Dressember is all about your standing up for what is right for women - celebrating in our femininity and remembering those who do not have the freedom to celebrate.  With thousands of other women I wore a dress or skirt for 29 days of December.  The absolute longest I have ever gone without a pair of pants on!  I also made a donation to International Justice Mission on behalf of those who are still in slavery.

2.  We have sponsor children in Mexico at a children's center that our church works for.  2 of our sponsor kids have left the program and we have 3 remaining in the program.  Our family bought and shipped gifts to all 5 of the children.  To our amazement and delight, our sponsor Mom had already warned her kids that they would be getting no gifts that year as she couldn't afford to buy them anything but a team from Canada showed up to her doorstep with our gifts on Christmas Eve!!  What an amazing blessing to know that our gifts came at the perfect time and we were able to bless their family with a beautiful Christmas.

3. I have a missionary friend named Sarah Gilman who lives in Haiti. I visited her about 4 years ago and we are like kindred spirits.  She and I can go years without seeing one another and then when we do, we talk like old ladies, hardly coming up for air.  It is a wonderful friendship and this year she was blessed with tickets to go home to Canada for Christmas.  Her family lives on the other side of the country so instead of getting a visit in, I sent her a donation so she could purchase some much need personal supplies before heading back to Haiti.

4.  I came across a posting on Facebook that there was a new family in town that was in need.  I managed to contact the family and they said they really needed a dresser as they had two small children and no furniture.  The kids and I said out to the Thrift Store to find one that was good quality and no too much money.  By the third shop, I prayed that if God wanted us to bless this family with a dresser that he would have one here for $40 and that it would fit in the back of our vehicle.  Sure enough, that is exactly what happened.  Caleb and I delivered it the next day and she really did have NO furniture so it was a fantastic way to be a blessing.

5.  Bless a teacher - I know how so many teachers had struggled because of the strike last year and wanted to bless one of the kids teachers with a fun family gift so I bought a groupon to Castle Fun Park and sent it via email to one of the kids teachers from last year just to bless her for her diligence in teaching.

6. Drop change randomly at a children's playground! This was a fun one.  The girls and I headed out to our favourite playground and hid change all over the playground, on the ground, in the trees, etc.  We wanted to stay and watch it be found but knew that it might take awhile before someone came so we left happy to know some kids would be having an amazing day at the playground!  Thank you so much to Amy and Jakey and Katie for donating your change.

7.  School moms went out to High Street for a get-together before Christmas and we asked a random girl to take our picture.  After she took the picture below, she asked if we knew of a shelter nearby.  I started on my phone to try and find one that was available and I was shocked to find that all of them were full!!  Well, we couldn't leave her there in the cold so my friend Veronica and I figured we'd drive her to the nearest hotel and put her up.  She was on her way to Vancouver to be with her daughter who was getting some testing done at Children's Hospital.  Our hearts were tugged and I am so thankful we were at the right place at the right time.  Thank you so much to the Klassen family for paying for her hotel.

Caleb's 'Lose a Tooth' Party

Caleb has lost his fourth tooth this week and he came up with the incredible idea of having a party to celebrate it.  Now I am one of those moms who says 'No!' a lot but I have really tried to make an effort to hear my kids and say 'Yes' when I can.  This seemed like a reasonable request after we talked through what an actually party would look like - cake, a dance, grandma and papa, easy enough.

We did discuss that if I allowed a party this time, would he expect one every time?  Of course the answer was 'Yes' from my beloved first born.  And so my answer initially, as all moms would answer, was 'No way!'  But as children do negotiate, we made it a deal that every child when they lose a tooth would get to choose to have a tooth party ONE time only.  Everyone agreed and was happy to make preparations for the party.

So first on our list this morning was making a Ginger-tooth House.  I had a leftover Gingerbread house from Christmas and put it to good use.  Of course I had to make it toothy so we made the spearmint leaves into little teeth with eyes.  Kids loved that!  While they ate their lunch, I made the cake.  To Caleb's specifications, he ordered a chocolate blueberry cake with blueberries on top.  I found a healthy one that I could eat and went to work.  And because he is the boy of honour today, when it came time for decorating, he was the one to do it...very happily I might add.  'Mom, when the girls lose a tooth they are going to be so happy to do this.'  'Why, son?' I ask.  'Because you get to lick all the spoons!  It can be so easy to please a child.  I should have just given him a bunch of yummy spoons to lick! 

Decorating the SECOND layer with blueberry glaze

 

 

After licking the spoon and pouring over my leftover The finished product.  

Caleb insisted on eyes though I was happy with just a mouthy toothless grin!ganache from Christmas Truffles. 

So the cake is done, chicken strips in our oven thanks to what the tenant left behind in his freezer and we are waiting for grandma and papa to arrive so they can start the dance and party!  And Mike and I are going on a date tonight.  The kids don't seem to mind as long as they have their cake...and eat it too!

Life is Hard, but God is Good

As I have gotten older, the realities of life have mixed with my perfect ideals and I've finally come to grips with the fact that life is hard.  This past year I've seen marriages break-up, sickness and death, lives torn apart because of sin or addiction.... and they aren't just newspaper headlines or stories that I've read; they are people that I know.  And it has hit home for me in a whole new way. 

Part of me shakes my head and says, 'I just don't get it.'  Why do we have to suffer like this?  But the other part knows that God didn't promise us a life that is easy and pleasurable and perfect.  He has promised us hardship, sufferings, pain... and that sucks.  But he also promised that he would never leave us or forsake us. When we are in those places of darkness and despair we would rather be anywhere else, and yet, it is in those places that we can experience the kindness and faithfulness of Jesus the most. 

In fact, the pain that I felt when Mike lost his job a year and a half ago paled in comparison to the love that God poured out on me.  Despite feeling torn from the life that I thought we were meant to be living, the community that we loved and the security of a job and our future, I felt love like I had never felt before.  We had walked through some tough times in the past and I had felt like I had just gotten through it; this time I wanted to do well.  I wanted to push into God and trust him even when I didn't know what the future was going to be. 

Looking back I wouldn't trade that time for anything in the world.  I can see through my journal entries that he was there in the midst of my pain.  He even gave me joy at times.  He wasn't afraid of my questions, my doubts, my frustrations.  He didn't mind that I had to be silent for at least a week to try and process things before I could bring myself to talking with him again.  He didn't mind; he just waited patiently until I was ready for him to speak. 

I remember opening up my bible and going right to Psalm 103.  Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sings and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

It's quite amazing isn't it?  How he can turn things around in our lives...hard things, ugly things, sad things and redeem them for our good and his glory.  We serve a Good God, a very Good God.  Whether we put ourselves in the pit or someone else throws us in, he redeems us from it.  He crowns us with love and compassion...and how else could we have compassion for those in the pit unless we have been there ourselves?

So if you are in that terrible dark night of the soul, this is for you.  Life is hard, but God is good.

It's a new day, a new year, a new blog...

Well, January 1st has come and nearly gone and I've hardly started preparations for the New Year.  A dying Christmas tree still stands adorned with ornaments, decorations and lights strewn about the house and presents are laying around yet to find their homes.  And yet it is a new year; 2012 has come, and with it new hope, dreams and aspirations and, of course, those pesky resolutions.

I do enjoy writing down my resolutions each year... better to call them goals.  Each year, I try to find where I wrote those goals and see how I did.  Some years I am surprised to have grown in all the areas I had wanted to and other times, that same goal is till waiting to be tackled and has sat there on the shelf for one more year.

So my resolutions for this Year? 

- one from last year was to lose 15 pounds - I lost 12 and then gained it back, so I guess I'm back to that same goal again!  

- I'd like to have a specific day or night for family time and be organized with something fun for us to do!  It can be so easy to do things sporadically and then other things crowd in on that time.

- I'd like to read through the old testament (haven't done the whole thing in awhile).  I read through the New Testament fully this year and so it seems natural to go back to the very beginning.

- Read and pray more with Michael.  So important to spend time together not in front of the TV!  So it may mean cutting the cable for awhile!? so we can figure out a routine of building our relationship up and keeping things strong.

....and there's a few more.... but let's see what last year looked like.

As I look back on this year, I can see the areas where I have grown and excelled and the areas of weakness as well.  The best part of this year and biggest growing area - Prayer!

This is the first season in my life where I have been able to stay consistent in prayer - spending time specifcally set apart for the Lord, praying more for others, praying the bible, memorizing scripture and filling my spirit up.

I preached my very first sermon to the church this year and the topic was on Praying the Bible.  And the major things that helped me continue to grow and stretch myself in this area was the accountability I received.  We are not called to live this life without it.  We need relationship and I am so thankful for the numerous relationships I have that encourage and challenge me to keep going for Jesus.

My friend Meg and I continue to call in the morning to remind one another to spend time with the Lord and lovingly and sometimes strongly kick each other's butts when we are putting other things first.

I have a wonderful group of ladies that I meet with as well that all want more of Jesus and having a place where we can support and love each other has helped me immensely.

My husband and I sharpen one another and challenge each other as well and we continue to grow together and apart in our walk with the Lord.

My church family is a place where we all get filled up and encouraged and I am continually thankful for the times that I get share with others God's heart as well as hear his heart for me as people from our congregation are obedient in sharing with me.

So if any of you want to have a new year's resolutions this year, one that you could really stick to and work on - I really pray that you consider this one: Plant yourself in community.  May that be your goal for the year.  You will be surprised by the benefits.

Stuffed Pepper Soup

New Recipe that I thought I'd share.  Was delicious and the kids loved it...and when the kids love it it's worth posting.  This soup taste somewhat like what you would taste if you were having stuffed peppers so thus the reason for calling it stuffed pepper soup.  I found a recipe on allrecipes.com but I deviated from it so much I think I can call this my own recipe now. 

Stuffed Pepper Soup
4 coloured bell peppers, diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 onions, diced
2 ribs of celery, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 pound of ground turkey or beef
1 can of tomato soup
1 litre of vegetable or beef broth
1 large can of diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup of brown rice (cooked according to directions, not sure how much it makes once it's cooked)
salt and pepper to taste
oregano and basil to taste

Brown turkey with onions and add salt and pepper to taste.  Drain if needed.
Meanwhile, saute veggies and garlic in olive oil for about 3 minutes, just to soften.  Add turkey and onions, tomato soup, diced tomatoes, broth, sauce and simmer for 30-40 minutes.  Add rice, spices to taste and enjoy! 

My son does NOT like peppers and there were pretty big chunks of peppers in there and so I just asked him to try one bite - one bite and big smiles and a refill on his bowl too.  The girls loved it as well so it is worth trying!!

I've got some leftovers so I'm going to add one more can of tomato soup and some more broth to thin it out, then freeze and have it for lunch next Sunday!

I can eat like a normal person!!!

Just got back from the naturopath where he did a full testing of all my food sensitivities.  I had been really praying that I would get chicken back, tomatoes, lettuce, peanuts and soy. 
...and I got all that and more!
I am getting tired of fish or turkey every day and knew that if I could only get chicken it would make a huge difference in my meals... so got to celebrate that plus getting pork!

Then came the veggies and fruits - got tomatoes and lettuce back - plus blueberries, oranges and peppers!  The only veggie I didn't get back was potatoes which I am totally fine with.  I'm loving my sweet potatoes and yams anyhow and they're better for me.

Then came nuts and seeds - hemp hearts and peanuts are back in the diet baby!  Oh, how I have missed you peanut butter!

I still have to stay away from a few things - alcohol, beef, bison, all dairy products, spicy foods and margarine.  But for the amount that I got back I feel like I will be able to eat like a normal person! 

I can't wait to start integrating these delicious foods back into my diet.  Definitely having pasta with tomato sauce first!!