My Angel Girl is 4!

Wow...I'm sure it was just 2 days ago that I became a mother...not 2 days and 4 YEARS! My wee angel girl is now past babyhood and reaching swiftly for girlhood. One minute she still needs to be held and carried to bed...the next minute she is very articulately telling me all about what she had discovered in her day. We had a gymnastics birthday party at a gymnastics academy very close to our home. We had 13 lovely children there (including Mercedes and Portia). I think it was a hit. Everyone (including the parents and grandparents) seemed to be having a blast. As you can see by her facial expressions over the presents Mercedes is a very expressive girl :).

Mercedes is such a sweet joy to Shaun and I. Most of the time she is the essence of sweetness, mercy, and kindness. She has a huge heart for such a small girl. It was fun to watch her with all of her friends at the same time. She is well loved :). We are so thankful to be trusted with her care. She is a rare jewel.

Have a fantastic day,

Tama

He loves me AND likes me!

These last couple of weeks have been douzies...not sure how one spelled that but there you go :). One thing that I think God is trying to teach me is that He not only loves me but he likes me...He finds delight in me. I was contemplating this yesterday and couldn't get it. I mean I understand loving someone because we are to love every one but that doesn't mean I like them. So I have thought of God that way in my heart...not my head, just my heart. I really didn't realize that until lately. It's like God has been stripping every last thing, except Him, away and saying...See I'm all you need.
I trust people that I like...isn't it funny...I love people but the next level is if I like them then they are on their way to being a friend. I am learning what it means to trust God...I mean truly trust Him. I think it might be easier now that I truly realize that He likes me. Well He more than likes me...I'm the apple of His eye. Hmmmm...there is so much that is in my head that is finally migrating down to my heart. It's quite a journey that...head to heart. It can take a split second or it can take decades.

Being Faithful with little...

Luke 16:10, 11 says, 10"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" This is within the Parable of the Shrewd Manager...Jesus speaking.

It seems that this topic keeps coming back to Shaun and it. God is teaching us the truth. When you have the belt of truth on there are all different angles to see things from. (on a side note....I am learning that although I may be right about something that doesn't mean that I know the truth because truth has all different angles). So for this particular topic in being faithful with little Shaun and I always thought that meant money. But we are learning "being faithful with little" has so much more of a life impact than money. With our home group...we need to be faithful to love and serve the people that God has entrusted into our care...right now that is 5 people. So we are learning how to be leaders and learning more and more what loving and serving means with these 5 people. I think it is amazing that He has trusted us that much! We have so much to learn...I am so thankful for the trust. With our marriage, our children, this business, finances, so many different areas...well today I ran across another category to be faithful in...thankfulness (gratitude). Here is the quote that I saw today...and it really struck me, especially in this context:

"Express gratitude for what you have. This increases the possibility that eventually you will have more to express gratitude for." -Zig Ziglar-

I am grateful for so many things,

Tama

My citizenship

Well...I finally did it! I took the Canadian Citizenship Test early this morning with 44 other people. I had studied for 2 weeks (plus lived here for almost 11 years...you kind of learn things about where you live :)). I am so relieved to have that done. Now in 2-4 months I will get a letter calling me in to take an oath of loyalty to Canada and Queen Elizabeth II.

I quite love Canada. It is interesting. I became an adult here. I became a wife and a mother here. I will always love the land of my birth (and I retain status as an American citizen as well). I will always be proud to have been born an American. It is a wonderful land. Of all the places to be born...I feel truly blessed, especially as I look at my sisters across the world and the privileges and respect I received simply by virtue of birth. There are not many countries that treat women well. I am privileged to be a citizen of two of the best. But I am quite proud to be becoming a Canadian. Now I can participate in voting and many other things. It should make traveling a little less complicated. Now we will all be under the same passport.

For the past 11 years it has been an interesting balance of finding where I belong as a foreigner. In conversation about childhood (with Canadians) I mostly have no idea the bands that they grew upwith, the the political events that shaped their world. I don't remember little things of culture becasue I wasn't here. There have been times when I didn't feel I fit in with Canadians or Americans. I belonged in a place in between. That can be an unsettling experience...I felt that the most when my parents got divorced. It was like I had no home...I was a wanderer, a gypsy of sorts. Perhaps this citizenship makes me feel more rooted. That I belong. I am ready for that. That is one side of the coin. The other side of the coin is that it really doesn't matter much as I am a citizen of another place much more than anywhere on earth. Perhaps in all of this I have realized the value in that. Another point on home...home for me is where my husband and (for now) daughters are. I know this is apart of growing up...moving out of your parent's home in your emotions...not thinking that if something were to happen there is always mom and dad. No, for me, home is my nucleus family now...as it should be.

This experience has given me a sympathy and understanding for immigrants that I would have never had otherwise. Although I am just from the next country over there have been times that I have felt that I might as well be from a country very far away. It is really surprising to find yourself in a cultural gap so close to home...it may, I don't know for sure, even be more shocking than coming from far away because at least then you expect it...you know you are coming to a very different place. Whereas I just thought that we were all North Americans and pretty much the same. What a shock to realize just how different the 2 countries are...OK I've pontificated on this point long enough. Thanks for wandering down that lane with me :).

Have a fantastic day counting the blessings of the land of your birth,

Tama

A Song

This song is written by Marijanel Knight. She is a gifted woman of God. I often find great encouragement from her blog on a daily basis. She wrote this song called "Unique One"

http://www.mknight.citymaker.com/f/Unique_One.mp3

Here are the lyrics:

Don't compare yourself to others or you will wander, you will wander.
Be content with who you are and you will prosper, you will prosper.
Can't you see that no one else can fit the mold in Father's heart like you?
Can't you see that no one else can ever fill your shoes?
Unique one
Rare one of a kind
Unique one
Dreamed up in His own mind
Unique one
Beautiful it's true
Unique one
No one else could ever be you

WOW! Have a great day catching the beauty that He created in you

Tama