Merry Christmas

Well we are off to Edmonton in the morning. I got my hair done yesterday and tried some funky new highlights. I've found myself too reserved and boring lately so I started with clothes...new more vibrant colors and now my hair has the most unatural burgundy and blonde highlights...very European and Canadian looking...not at all American. Very fun!

I've been wandering around the house today uninspired to pack and yet getting more and more stressed due to my procrastination. I was going to go to bed early and then arise early but now I've gotten my second wind and am ready to tackle the rest of this project that I've been attempting all day. The girls were extra needy today...even the dog was needy...go figure. However, we did reach one milestone today. Portia went potty on the potty today for the first time...so that is the beginning of the end of diapers for us...I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Tomorrow Portia will have her first plane ride...Mercedes will have her 3rd. I just love this age. Both the girls are so animated and as they get older it just gets more fun. Christmastime is so much fun through the eyes of a child. As an adult I get too caught up in my to-do list...but when I stop and ponder life through the joyful and innocent eyes of my girls I see a very different world. I see a carefree and fun world. I see a world to explore. I see hope. I see SO MUCH more than my adult eyes take in. What a gift to catch glimpses of life as through the eyes of a child again. Jesus said something about that in Luke 18:15-17:
People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. "Let these children alone. Don't get between them and me. These children are the kingdom's pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in."
Have a very Merry Christmas! I hope you see this Christmas through your child eyes. I hope you see the whole reason for the season. JESUS!

Some thoughts

The last little while I have been trying to do more "crafty" things. I hadn't done that in quite awhile as i hadn't had the time, inclination, or the energy. It's kind of nice. I took up knitting...not good yet so I am bored already with it...and I am making these no-sew fleece blankets for the girls and some other kids. The tracktor blanket in this picture is for one of my closest friends who just had her third son last week. The girly one is for one of my other closest friend who just adopted a baby girl.



I have also started to do more crafty things with the girls. They really enjoy it. I have some finger paintings to send to grandparents and great-grandparents for Christmas.





We have also been doing things like building forts in the living room. It was fun but Portia kept crawling on top of the fort and ruining it much to Shaun and Mercedes' frustration. The girls are very good...even on days when we can't get outside due to weather. Tomorrow we are going to a place that is a gymnastics centre that has a time for a couple of hours where it's a big indoor play gym. We've not been yet but it sounds like a good place for the girls to blow off some steam.





I read this this morning... Proverbs 14: 10 says "The person who shuns the bitter moments of friends will be an outsider at their celebrations." That really struck me. Especially at Christmas. It said to me that we choose to be a friend to someone and then we stick with them NO MATTER WHAT! Loyalty. Over the last 9 months Shaun and I have made new friends. They are wonderful people but it takes a long time to really be true friends. I cherish the friendships that I have. I am very thankful for the people that God has blessed my life with. This verse was an excellent reminder to me.
I got this in an e-mail and found it true:

A simple friend, when visiting, acts like a guest.
A real friend opens your refrigerator and helps himself (and doesn't feel even the least bit weird shutting your 'beer/Pepsi drawer' with her foot!)
A simple friend has never seen you cry. A real friend has shoulders soggy from your tears.
A simple friend doesn't know your parents' first names.A real friend has their phone numbers in his address book.
A simple friend brings a bottle of wine to your party.
A real friend comes early to help you cook and stays late to help you clean.
A simple friend hates it when you call after they've gone to bed.
A real friend asks you why you took so long to call.
A simple friend seeks to talk with you about your problems.A real friend seeks to help you with your problems.
A simple friend wonders about your romantic history. A real friend could blackmail you with it.
A simple friend thinks the friendship is over when you have an argument.
A real friend calls you after you had a fight.
A simple friend expects you to always be there for them.
A real friend expects to always be there for you!


I am blessed with many real friends and many new friends. One needs both :). After all the new friends will become old friends in time if we stick to the friendship...Thank you my friends whatever catagory you may fall into :)

Love, Tama

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!

So...my wonderful husband has started this business. We have prayed that God would bring us the jobs that Shaun could do as he expands his skill level. That he would provide the money for the tools that he needs as he needs them and that we would have a shop that fits his needs as he needs it.
Shaun started making calls. Of the several people he called two Realtors that do high end condos in downtown Vancouver were on the list. Each one said "oh I have a million dollar condo I just sold. I will give the guy your name". (First of all this amazed us because you would think that they would say they would keep Shaun's name in mind...but no they had people to pass his name on that needed work now) And the day he called one of the clients was flying in the next day and the other realtor was making a list for his client right...he was literally typing. The next person Shaun called was the people that he had made the Murphy bed for to see if they were happy and if it was working well. They are happy and it is working well. Now Shaun had finished this job a month or longer ago. They just had their neighbor in the other day to look at it (not a month ago when it was finished) but right before Shaun called. And he wanted one too...did they think Shaun would build him one? So they are going to tell him Shaun would. They were also sure they knew someone else who needed something along the lines of what Shaun does...I have to say that really amazed me...because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God had gone before us. Then yesterday Shaun did a quote on a $1.1 million condo on Coal Harbour for a 25 year old Chinese Canadian guy. The realtor (who coincidentally was the one selling this house...that's how we met him) said he thought he needed some shelves. so Shaun went down to do the quote...WELL there are a lot more than shelved needed. And Shaun is to do the bid but he has the job as they are not getting any other quotes. AND he is working with the interior designer/decorator. The last project she did was a 40,000 square foot house. The guy she usually uses is too busy to do this one. If she is happy with Shaun she will add pass work his way. YEAH GOD. About 2 weeks ago I had printed out all of the interior decorators in the Lower Mainland. And here God put one right in our lap. Shaun will deal only with her...how nice is that!!!!
We have BATHED (and will continue to bathe) this business venture in prayer. God is faithful to us. He is going before us. I can literally see His hand at work. After all of the wandering around we have done and things we have tried to do (likely more in our own strength than not). There is a pleasure and an ease of doing it the God-way. You know we can't succeed at this without God. We have learned that lesson WELL. Please pray that we don't forget. :).
I just read in Psalm 34 this morning this is what is said:
I bless God every chance I get; my lungs expand with his praise. 2 I live and breathe God; if things aren't going well, hear this and be happy: 3 Join me in spreading the news; together let's get the word out. 4 God met me more than halfway, he freed me from my anxious fears. 5 Look at him; give him your warmest smile. Never hide your feelings from him. 6 When I was desperate, I called out, and God got me out of a tight spot. 7 God's angel sets up a circle of protection around us while we pray. 8 Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see— how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him. 9 Worship God if you want the best; worship opens doors to all his goodness. 10 Young lions on the prowl get hungry, but God-seekers are full of God. 11 Come, children, listen closely; I'll give you a lesson in God worship. 12 Who out there has a lust for life? Can't wait each day to come upon beauty? 13 Guard your tongue from profanity, and no more lying through your teeth. 14 Turn your back on sin; do something good. Embrace peace—don't let it get away! 15 God keeps an eye on his friends, his ears pick up every moan and groan. 16 God won't put up with rebels; he'll cull them from the pack. 17 Is anyone crying for help? God is listening, ready to rescue you. 18 If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there; if you're kicked in the gut, he'll help you catch your breath. 19 Disciples so often get into trouble; still, God is there every time. 20 He's your bodyguard, shielding every bone; not even a finger gets broken. 21 The wicked commit slow suicide; they waste their lives hating the good. 22 God pays for each slave's freedom; no one who runs to him loses out.
That really encouraged me. How I thirst for the word of God. I love read it in the Message translation. It makes so much sense to me. I am just soaking it in these days. You know my favorite lines of that chapter...well there are a couple that stood out to me. In verse 7 it says "God's angel's set up a circle of protection around us while we pray". That brought to mind
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (but especially 17) Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. That made me think that if I pray all the time then angel's will always encircle me and Satan will not have a chance to throw his fiery darts at me...INTERESTING! The other line I loved was in verse 12. The whole verse says "who out there has a lust for life? Can't wait each day to come upon beauty? " I absolutely LOVED that last line "Can't wait each day to come upon beauty?" WOW I had never heard it put that way. We usually say something like we are looking forward to the next day or I can't wait to see what's around the corner...but Can't wait each day to come upon beauty....I LOVE coming upon beauty...and if I know there will be something Beautiful to come upon each day... WOW now that is something to look forward too. BEAUTY...especially the beauty of God. There is nothing that can compare...that goes back to these verses Ephesians 3: 20-21 God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.."
There is something beautiful...just like my husband's smile, my children's laughter...

One enamored Princess

p.s. the stuff on Portia's face and hands is frosting :)