Funny kid stories...

Ok so we have 2 World Vision kids (well one is World Vision and one is another one like it). They are a boy and a girl from Ethiopia. Their pictures are on our fridge and Mercedes, Shaun, and I have had many little conversations about who they are, that we have been blessed so we need to give and help people. That one child is an orphan from the AIDs epidemic, and we send them money so they can get an education, food, medicine, etc. Anyway, I was watching Oprah one afternoon ( I know roll your eyes if you have too :)) and Dwana Smallwood was dancing (apparently she is considered one of the best modern dancers in the world). she had no shoes on as she doing a dance called "cry". It is a slave's journey to freedom.She is an African-American...that is her in the picture. So it was upon this setting that Mercedes starts in on her list. "Mommy we need to send her money...She needs medicine Mommy, and food. Does she have a mommy and a daddy? Or did they get sick and die?" On and on she went. I sat there feeling that I was obviously lacking in my explanation skills. Here my little daughter sees a very wealthy lady on TV and because she has a certain skin colour and is not wearing shoes she MUST need our help. I had to explain that it does not depend upon a person's skin colour but more where they live. And that she wasn't wearing shoes so that she could do her dance properly. This lady was OK but that I appreciated her heart of compassion.

Next story...Mercedes has a friend named Caedence. He is a cutie pie of a boy. They love playing together. Caedence...well he's just one of those kids that you just love having around. He got Mercedes a Dora camping chair for her birthday and this is the story behind that. He and his mom went shopping for Mercedes' present. LaLainia let Caedence pick (smart mommy). So he looked and looked and finally he found a princess dress that he just loved for Mercedes and then he found hair pretties. THEN he saw this Dora chair and he HAD to get that. LaLainia explained that he could get either the princess dress or the chair. He decided on the Dora chair because "I have the Diego chair mommy and so I can be the prince and if Mercedes has this chair she can be the princess. SOOOOOOOO CUTE! OK so...He was over playing one day. They were downstairs in the yard jumping on the trampoline and riding bikes and generally having a blast! Caedence comes stomping up the stairs and says to Shaun and I "Mercedes was bad to me". So Shaun called Mercedes upstairs and said to them "OK Caedence I want to hear your side of the story and Mercedes please do not speak while he is talking and then Mercedes it will be your turn. So Caedence what is your story?" Caedence says this "Once upon a time there was a boy named Diego...the end." Mercedes at this point chimed in "yeah and there was a girl named Dora" I was really trying not to break into hysterical laughter as he was quite serious about it all. Then Shaun (who didn't miss a beat by the way) turned, straight-faced, and said "and do you think they were nice to each other?" To which they both replied "yes". Shaun said "OK then do you think you 2 can be nice to each other" "Yes" and they ran out quite in harmony with each other. About 1/2 hour later Caedence came in and said the same thing "Mercedes is being bad to me". Mercedes was with him this time. So Shaun again asked "Caedence tell me your story". HUGE sigh...he threw himself into the Dora chair and said VERY dramatically "Once upon a time..." I realize that he did not understand what Shaun was asking him...but it was so funny and it really distracted him. I love kids. They are so fun.

Hope you had a good laugh

My attention

This morning I was reading my Bible. Before I started I prayed 2 things...God please show me your motives in what I am about to read and God please show me my motives while I am reading. It was fascinating to me to then read my Bible. It was like I was there. I could feel the emotions of the story. I could almost taste the dust of the caravan. I was reading about Jacob in the book of Genesis. I have been reading through Genesis since the beginning of the year. Just reading slowly and soaking it in. Really listening this time instead of just reading the words. Letting God tell me His story. I have learned so much. Here's one story:



Genesis 32:22-32 talks about when Jacob literally wrestled with God. This is a somewhat humorous story to me. I mean really...ok so this is what is say...well the context is this...Jacob is returning home after 20 odd years of being away. He ran away (from present day Israel to present day SE Turkey near the border of Syria) in the first place because he had, through deception, stolen his twin brother's blessing (Genesis 27 recounts that story). His brother got mad...well furious...he said something along the lines of "my dad is going to die soon and once that happens I will then kill my brother" (by the way his dad lived another 40 years so Jacob would have been fine but he had no way of knowing that). So really Jacob, who was more of a lover not a fighter, was not really safe. So his mom told him to go to her brother's "until your brother's fury subsides". So needless to say Jacob and Esau didn't last see each other on the best of terms. And now Jacob is coming home and he is afraid of meeting his brother. Esau was a mighty and fierce warrior. He finds out that Esau is coming to meet him (and his family...Jacob a very VERY wealthy man by now but that is another story) with 400 men. So Jacob sends a peace offering of A LOT of animals to Esau from his herds and then "in great fear and distress" he divides his people and herds into 2 groups" so that if one group was attacked the other could escape. He had no idea what frame of mind his brother was in. Then he took his family to the other side of the river and then came back...and now he was alone. Now I imagine that "alone time" for Jacob was a thing that NEVER happened. He had 2 wives...yep 2! AND 2 concubines...AND 12 sons and at least one daughter. Plus servants. I rarely get alone time and I have 1 husband and only 2 children...and no servants. So this was a rare thing indeed. It says "So Jacob was left alone..." and then it says "...and a man wrestled with his till daybreak." I wonder how that went down. Did this stranger just walk up to Jacob and start wrestling or did they have words or...or what? How in the world did they start wrestling. The answer is left to our imagination. OK so for a lot of the night Jacob and this guy wrestled. Strange. Well perhaps not so strange really...I've learned something about the male gender :)...they cannot sit still and talk they have to be "doing something" while they talk. So perhaps God's purpose was to get Jacob's attention to get him focused back on what was important...not his brother but God...and maybe he did that by wrestling him. Maybe God was directing Jacob's steps. He saw that Jacob was full of fear and "distressed" over meeting his brother and God didn't want him to worry. I imagine that Jacob was extremely tired after organizing all those people, plus the mental anxiety, plus wrestling all night. He likely met Esau pretty calmly because he had no nervous energy left to have fear and to fret. That's not in the Bible it's just my own thought. Place yourself in Jacob's shoes...

Then it says this "When the man saw that he could not overpower him (Jacob), he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said ,'Let me got for it is daybreak.'" Couple things...this is the second time that Jacob's unnatural strength is mentioned. The first time is when he arrived at his Uncle Laban's after running from his brother. He came to a well and there were all these shepherds and their flocks of sheep just waiting around the well. Jacob (being familiar with all this sheep stuff) asked why they were there (because it was the wrong time of day to water sheep) and then he told them to water the sheep and go back to the pasture. They said they couldn't because all the flocks weren't there yet (and therefore all the shepherds) so they had to wait for them to get there in order to be able to roll back the stone...in other words it took A LOT of guys to move this stone because it was SO HEAVY. Well just then Rachel (Jacob's beautiful cousin arrived with her flock of sheep...well Jacob went and single handed rolled back the stone (Gen. 29:1-10) OK well this time this guy (we at this point aren't clear on who he was) could not get the better of Jacob in this physical match of strength. Jacob was strong...we already know that...but he likely had so much pent up anxiety over meeting his brother as well...plus he was stubborn. Do you know what Jacob said when this stranger asked to be let go of..."I will not let you go unless you bless me." So the guy asked his name and Jacob told him and then the guy changed his name. He said this " Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." and Jacob said "Please tell me your name" and the guy said, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there" I wonder what he said in that blessing? Oh to be a fly on a rock there. Genesis 32:30 "So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face , and yet my life was spared." He understood the gravity of the situation. The rest of the chapter says this "The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendons attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon." He likely limped the rest of his life. And it probably reminded him of that night.



I just found it interesting that the 2 times God talked to Jacob...that are recorded...he was ALONE! I find that if I take time to be still and quiet and just BE that is when God grabs my attention and talks to me...He likely talks a lot more but I can't hear him through all the noise and business. God is not obnoxious. He won't get louder and louder so we can hear Him. He waits for us to be quite and still.

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