The Joy Dare - Feb 27

Three ugly- beautiful gifts (seeing the beauty in the ugly)
I don't call much ugly...except evil and there is no beauty in that, except that perhaps evil gives the juxtaposition to show true beauty in all it's glory...so okay, evil has it's uses, it shows beauty off, but isn't beautiful itself. That aside, here is my beauty of the day.
I started Lent-ing today. Yes, I know traditional Lent begins on Ash Wednesday...46 days before Easter Sunday. In the Catholic tradition, it's forty days of sacrificial fast in preparation for Easter, but they take the six Sundays as mini Easters and give themselves a reprieve from their fast. I dunno...it just seems like cheating to me. So I always 'Lent' from either Ash Wednesday straight through to Palm Sunday, a week before Easter or start 40 days before Easter, which I'm doing this year. I am giving up spending and white and refined...no, I am not becoming a member of the proletariat, just giving up the white foods that plague my belly and hips and which I love to eat. The spending is another thing entirely. Truthfully eating and spending money are truly my toughest temptations. So I am not spending any money except on gas, groceries, personal grooming stuff (nails, haircut, shampoo, etc) and my monthly bills. No eating out (that's a biggie), no going out to movies, no buying clothes...It will be a good practice. So where's the beauty in the ugly? The ugly is my human nature that groans at the thought of giving up anything that I desire. The beauty is in the choice to sacrifice my desire to His will. While it is truthfully very little I am giving up, I figure if Jesus can stand forty days in the desert without eating and the devil hounding Him, certainly I can do this little thing for His sake, and to His glory. That's the beauty in it.
I'm the school secretary. Everyone sends the sick kids to the office. There's a bug going around and in the last two days we've sent home no less than 25 kids with the stomach flu. We should have a revolving door into the office. And there's a sickly smell permeating the sick room. Ugh....or ugly. But in it, I get to comfort these poor little darlings, get them some cold cloths for their heads, a hot water bottle for their tummy, or a sip of water...and I call their mommy to come and get them. It's a responsibility I truthfully treasure...I do adore them.
I was part of a course today...'Building Trust Under Pressure'. Some of the situations shared around the table were pretty ugly. The beauty in it though was the support and encouragement around the table. In being able to share with objective people, while learning new skills to approach difficult problems, I think some of the people at least were finally able to see the good that could come out of the situations. Hope is a beautiful gift.

There is almost always a little beauty in an ugly situation or thing....isn't that piggy so cute?

The Joy Dare - Feb 24-26

(This was my photo posted for reflections on a FB group I belong to(see below) and it is also something very old (1000 year old temple Ankor Wat in Cambodia) and let's say it was taken before 11am. :) )
Well, I have had a busy few days, leaving me entirely tired at the end of the days, so posting did not happen...that doesn't mean I haven't been noticing the gifts. So I'll mix up the gifts and the days and run them all together...which will pretty much reflect how the last three days have been for me...
Three gifts before 11am
A gift nearly worn out, a gift new, A gift made-do
Three gifts seen as reflections

Ideally I would like to see nothing save the inside of the book I'm currently reading, with a coffee in hand, dressed in my jammies before 11 am ...buuuuutt, that definitely didn't happen this weekend. However before 11am some lovely things happened...I had the opportunity on Friday to be a judge at our school's science fair. I know you know that I love young people, and to come to them, shake their hand, ask them questions about the things they've learned, what they concluded, whether they were wrong or right in their hypothesis, and how long it took them to make their display just made my day. It took only a few moments, but I gave them some encouragement, smiled, congratulated them on their work. They were so proud and pleased to share. And so they should have been. Saturday before 11am I shared a breakfast with a dear young woman whom I love, home for reading week from university and hear her heart on a number of things and just enjoy her company. I was up this snowy, blustery Sunday morning and on to church to share some hard truths with grade 5/6 boys and girls about bullying. They were intent, engaged and I think they heard that God understands and that forgiveness is the key. Who knew I could be gifted that early in the day.

I got some lovely new pillows on Friday, and new pillow cases and I tell you, I had the best sleep I'd had in a month or so. I got into bed that night, sunk my head onto that pillow and sighed the deep, deep sigh. Lovely! Well, I don't know if it's nearly worn out, but it's certainly worn in...I love our little den on our top floor. It was the best idea to turn a bedroom into a mini sanctuary...and in it is my recliner, perfectly formed to my form and the place I am most relaxed, aside from bed, in our home. One of my best creative talents I think is opening the fridge door, checking the contents and putting together a meal in a make do way...today, while I had a plan, I got home at 4:30 after a long day and in an hour and a half, put together a ham, creamed potatoes and onions, corn and beans and home-made rolls dinner for 10.

Mirrors are not something I truly like looking into, I am not fond of my reflection, but on Friday I went for a regular appointment for a nail fill and eyebrow wax. I must say I really like looking at my eyebrow when they are professionally groomed. I had never been one to pay much attention to fashion or make up or fine personal grooming when I was younger. I never felt worth it. Part of loving God is knowing I am worth Him loving, and so I have worth and beauty in His eyes, and it's okay to do things that help me take pleasure in my appearance. Today in my rear view mirror, while sitting in my car in a parking lot, I saw a dear young man, brushing snow off my car. This is just one of the things he does to bring joy to my life. He is a gift beyond measure to my life. This week the theme on a photography group I belong to on Facebook was reflections...some lovely photos were posted showing beauty, and whimsy and humour and all of them were a gift to me...from talent and vision.

Whew...so many gifts....so little time. It is necessary though to take the moment to acknowledge them.

The Joy Dare - Feb 23

Three gifts in tin, glass, wood....

So true to form the first thing I thought about was food and the containers they come in....tin cans(I don't even know if they still are tin), glass jars and cardboard (paper made from wood). Now packaged food is a double-edged sword. No other area in the entire world eats more processed food than North America. Nowhere! It is likely the reason that obesity is such a huge problem in this part of the world, and again, a bigger problem than anywhere else in the world. Many of the foods we eat out of packages would be unrecognizable in any other part of the world as well, because it is so processed. But I have traveled a fair bit in the world, SE Asia, South America, Eastern Europe and I don't usually travel the five star way but engage in daily life iwth the locals. And as a result I have seen how they eat...and how they don't.

We live in such abundance here. That is the gift in all the processed food. Some would say we live in excess and perhaps that is true. But whenever I walk through a grocery store I remember the reaction of a refugee family from Sudan that I once took shopping. They literally cried the first time they saw a grocery store at the abundance of food that was there...and then they were completely overwhelmed by the thought that there were 100s of those stores just in this city alone. They had been on the verge of starvation for a number of years due to the political upheaval in their country. It's a good reminder that while we live in this affluence, it comes with a large responsibility...a responsibility to feed the hungry, to bring just a small bit of this abundance to others. Some will say we have our own poor to feed, but that is a falacy...while yes there are poor and hungry here, there are many social programs that they can access for help if they need it. So many countries have no options...such desparation.

How can we ignore the need, when we can fulfill it? It is a gift we have in our hands we can give to others.

The Joy Dare - Feb 22

Three gifts that changed today...

Okay, so I am little confused here....does this mean the gifts changed, or that the gifts that came changed what my day would have been like without them? I like the latter better so I think that I will go with that perspective. You know I actually think about this a fair bit...what little thing happened in your day that changed a direction that you took, or changed your mind about something and ended up having a greater impact than you thought...

1. I got a great night's sleep last night...I went to bed earlier than normal. I slept well, right through the night and woke up before my alarm feeling pretty wide awake and refreshed. My back wasn't achy and I didn't feel like I wanted to pull my blankets over my head and roll over for at least another two hours. I got up willingly, not dragging my butt and was able to take some extra time just getting myself ready without rushing. It put a whole different spin on my day. I actually just sat for about 10 minutes in the quiet and thanked God. I used to have my quiet time with God every morning...not long just 10 or 15 minutes...not bible reading, but just praising Him for the day and being quiet with Him. Because my sleep patterns have been a little wacko lately, I haven't done that in a while and I have had a lot of bad mornings. I had SUCH a good morning this morning...I was happier, more relaxed and felt better about myself and it was a great gift.

2. I hang out with high school students on Wednesday nights. My role is actually to mentor/help out other female youth leaders...just encourage them and build them up. But tonight because some of the leaders were away I got to sit in on a small group discussion time with some grade 10 girls. These are probably the girls I know the least in the whole group so it was lovely just to get to know them a bit...to figure out their personalities, hear their hearts on God and the universe, and pray for them. This really is my calling from God....I can't even really explain it in words; sometimes it's so overwhelming. But I truly do love these young ladies...all of them, even the ones I have just met. When I am with them, they are the most important people in the world to me...so to have a chance to get closer to just a few of them, is a gift that made my day just that much better.

3. My honey kissed me good night just a few minutes ago and went off to bed. That is pretty usual actually. But he told me he missed me tonight when I was away at youth tonight and that he was glad we'd be together tomorrow night. He got a few extra smooches for his good night kiss tonight. And I got a rather lovely sweet mushiness swirling around in my head and a smile on my face...I think my dreams will be sweeter tonight than they might have been.

Letting your day be changed I think, is part what happens to you, but in a larger part it's your attitude about it all. While my body let me get a good night sleep, leaders were missing tonight at youth, or my honey kissing me goodnight....all those little gifts could have been for naught, if my attitude in receiving them had been different....using the extra time for something besides quiet time, moaning over having to take over for others, brushing off an offhand comment by my husband....instead I took advantage of the 'changes' and the gifts came in abundance. It was a good day.

The Joy Dare - Feb 21

Three gifts white...

1. Fresh snow...Let's get this straight, I do not like snow...at all, except maybe on Christmas Even and only if it's light and fluffy falling in the twilight. (Yes, I'm a romantisist...that means I romanticize things). But there was something lovely and fresh about the snow in the morning. There seems to be a lot of brown around these days, and everything is dry....including my skin and hair and nose. So I appreciated the light layer that freshened everything up and made it all look new. And I appreciated the moisture, even though it may not directly benefit my skin, etc. I know in the long run precipitation was needed by more than me.

2. Have I mentioned that I LOVE my kitchen? It's not completely white but the cupboards are white against grey walls, river stone backsplash and butcher block countertops. It looks pretty, (unless my son has been cooking in it) but it means more to me than that. I love to cook, but not just cook, I like to cook FOR people. For me it's all about making people feeling welcome and comfortable and relaxed. Making a meal they love is a big part of that. I am so grateful for this kitchen and for my dear husband, who put nine months of all his spare time into it and direct to my specifications. It was a labout of his love for me, so I can love on others through it.

3. I got a white envelope in our mail today...well much of our mail is white, but this one envelope has the 'Compassion' insignia in the corner and it always makes me smile even before I open it. It contained letters and pictures from our dear sponser children...two boys in Indonesia and one little girl in Haiti. It's so wonderful to get their notes, see their faces and put up their drawings. And I am grateful we have the resources to do it.

The Joy Dare - Feb 20

Three gifts, one at breakfast, lunch and dinner...well, I suppose I could look at my life and find gifts that may have happened at any one of these times, but I think if we look hard enough we should be able to find gifts at these times of day, everyday, even on the lousy days...don't you think?

1. I've had a lovely slow day today...it was a holiday...family day. But we had all the kids plus the niece for brunch yesterday, so that marked our celebration. And today I had just a puttering around kind of day today. I made breakfast for my honey today... a nice veggie omelet with cheese. And we shared some companionable silence in the sunshine munching away, him with the paper, me with some writing I was doing. He ate up, smiled at me, thanked me, kissed me and headed out to his garage to fix his $#%^&* truck that was messed up again. But it was a great moment, speaking of a general contentment and a lack of pressing obligation. That is few and far between in our busy days.

2. I had some crackers and tuna at lunch and I was writing some emails, checking FB, and a conversation popped up with a dear young man I'm involved with in ministry. The gift here is that he is leading a mission trip to Spain in the summer with some high school students, and we've been in conversation about whether I should come with them. He was in need of female leaders and while I am leading another trip for youth leaders in August, the timing for this trip worked out well (I don't work July & August)... so he said yes, he'd like to have me along. I got a little shot of pleasure, it felt just right, like the planets aligned. It will be a busy spring, but I LOVE taking young people on these trips and watching how God changes their lives.

3. I had KFC for dinner at 8pm, ugh, I eat it about once a year to remind me why I don't eat it the rest of the year. It always tastes good at the time and then sludges through my system later. I'm watching on DVD a great BBC production of North and South...I am a staunch fan of classic literature and no-one does a better job producing Dickens, Austen, Bronte and in this instance Gaskell to the small screen like BBC. It is just a joy to have the time to sit for four hours (with sludge in my veins) and watch an awesome story on the screen. It's been a lovely day...

I did have a bath today, but I'm still in my jammies....beauty. :)

The Joy Dare - Feb 19

Three gifts that were plan Bs
Very, very few plans in my life have come out exactly like I thought they would. Almost always there was a switch somewhere and the direction had to be changed. Life rarely turns out the way you think it will.
1. My plan A for life was to never have children...when I was 18 anyway. Now young people fill my life and have for a long time. I had three children in five years, I volunteered at their playschool and dance studion, I had a day home for 8 years with up to five extra children in my home daily, at one point I operated a private lunch program with 30 grade school children on my own, then became a lead lunch supervisor and the number grew to 190 with three other ladies. I volunteer with junior high in drama, have taken youth on trips around the world and shared that with my own children, I teach them, mentor them, feed them, love them, encourage them, pray for them....it is the joy and the ministry of my life. Um, pretty spectacular plan B.
2. My plan A for my first daughter in her pre-teen years, was this slow blossoming into womanhood where her and I would share everything...instead she hit puberty like a brick wall and ended up knee deep in anxiety and severe depresession. It was five years of hell...but in the midst of it my dependance on God became absolute...my surrender complete...my understanding of His love, mercy, grace and most especially peace overwhelmed me. If I had not traveled through the mire with my dear girl, I would not be the same woman I am today...and I like me the way I am...I don't resent it. It was a difficult but educational plan B.
3. I prayed for 20 + years for my parents to accept Christ...my plan A was to invite them to all the events, have faith conversations with them and they would have an epiphany in church one day and come to faith. I did the first things, but instead my mom got cancer. She got scared...and she came to faith, and it gave her peace until she died six months later. My dad remarried three years later...It was so difficult for me and not my plan A for him, but he married a woman who is a regular church goer...a good Christian church...and my dad goes with her...and we have spiritual conversations now. Not something I would ever thought would happen. I believe God worked and is working in my parents' lives. Would this have been the way I wanted it to happen? No, but I trust God (see #2) and I see Him at work. And I know where my mom is now...that's a good plan B.
Not all Plan B's work out so well, but I've learned to roll with the punches and the gentle maneuvering...and work with what God gives me. It's never bad to have a plan, but I've learned to hold them loosely, and be ready to give them up to another direction.

The Joy Dare - Feb 18

Three gifts on paper

Well if this had said gifts of paper the boundaries of the gift may have been a bit broader, but on paper, indicates it's the thing that is on the paper that is the gift...so that narrows it down a bit. And besides that, I have become a minimalist when it comes to the paper dilemma...you know, ecology and all that. I tend to save files to my computers...home or work, instead of printing them out. I have an ereader now and read most of my books that way...email instead of notes and letters....but I did still find some dear things on paper today that I can share.

1. I pulled out my passport today. We had a meeting today for a mission trip I am leading and we needed to check our passport to make sure it doesn't expire before a certain date. I was looking through it and was so grateful for all the places I've traveled, the things I've seen, and mostly the people I've met....And also, so very, very blessed and fortunate for the country I live in, for the freedom and affluence we experience here, AND for the way Canadians are received all over the world. Wow, I am a very blessed and fortunate woman.

2. I was perusing the bulletin at our church service tonight and looking at all the events and ministries that make up our church family....I was a little overwhelmed. I have never attended or been a part of another church, but I have attended other churches' services and spoken to many people who attend other churches. While our church, and I mean the church leadership not the building, is far from perfect and does not please everyone, I can see their heart is to do the will of God....to encourage the body to first love Him, to worship Him with our whole lives, to show us our giftings and then give us places to use them to serve, to love others as Jesus would... we have a long way to go to love like Jesus, but we are on the road and I am glad to be in a time and place and in a church family that is pursuing love and ministry.

3. I've been putting thoughts to paper lately, using my creative juices on a project that might just go somewhere...or nowhere at all. It looks pretty...I bought some new markers and pens and pencils and a sketch book... no, I have not turned into an artist, not the drawing kind...it's sort of a story map, character sketches, plot lines, scene settings....a lot of jumbled ideas right now but I've been cautiously excited if that makes sense. But as I was jotting some ideas down today, I decided to embrace it fully and not restrain the ideas because it might be just foolish dreaming. I am using a God-given gift of creative story-telling...and He IS in the process, I can feel His presence...so I won't get caught up in the what-if and just enjoy the process whether it is just solely for my benefit or an audience of One, or of many. I decided the gift was the joy He is giving me in it....and I'll take it graciously.

Sometimes paper is worth whatever is on it, regardless of the tree cost.

The Joy Dare - Feb 17

Three gifts found giving/serving...

I am not unused to giving and serving. I understand that God means for us to do this as a gift of love to another and there is a great satisfaction in providing some service or some thing for another, especially if it is unexpected by them. But often I find that to serve well, to give well, involves sacrifice and that is never the easy thing to do, so can you find the gift in the sacrifice?

Did I sacrifice much today to giving and serving? I don't think so...I went into work which was blissfully empty of teachers and students due to convention and so I did get a lot of work done...thankless stuff like filing and organizing and cleaning...and maybe that could be considered serving, but I don't think it counts for much if you're getting paid to do it. I did some organizing and scheduling for a mission trip I am leading...sending an email with forms, and setting up a calendar...I was a little tired and thinking I would rathering just be sitting and reading my book or taking a nap...so if I served at all it was with obedience to a commitment and not from a genuine heart...hmmm, does that count. And I took a young friend out for dinner and a movie and had a great conversation, but I got to eat and see a movie I wanted to see, so that I suppose is not much of a sacrifice. I am not sure I can find the gifts in serving and giving if I did so selfishly today....and I am not sure I should even get gifted from it.

Can you tell I am in a bit of a mood tonight?

I tweeted (yes, I do that) earlier this evening...'So my plate is large and has many things on it. So? So? #lovinglife #neverbored #getoverit #multitasker' because I got a bit of flack from someone who was giving me the verbal eye roll over what I do in a day. Would you like to see my plate right now...junior high drama skits, leading one, possibly two mission teams, mentoring some sixteen young women in youth leadership, directing dinner theatre, teaching in junior high, work full time, love on my husband, spend time with my kids, etc....Well, sometimes I do it all grudgingly...but I still know, I just KNOW that I'm supposed to...and sometimes the gift in it is just that, OBEDIENCE. But mostly I just love, just LOVE all the things I do, not because they're easy, but because they take sacrifice...I'm not a matyr, but what I do, does matter, and gives me PURPOSE...and those are the gifts in it; obedience, love, purpose, just the knowing...okay that's more than three and there's likely more, and I receive them EVERY DAY from serving and giving...whether I get paid for it, or doing it begrudgingly, or receiving benefit from it, it's just right to do even if I am wrong in the way I do it.

Okay, I'm done now....bah, try not to judge me.

The Joy Dare - Feb 16

Three gifts in the shadows...

There is a lot of mysteriousness and anxiety wrapped up in shadows....they can make people nervous. But for me, I love the shadows. There is an anonimity in them, and they make excellent vantage points for watching others (people watching is one of my favourite pasttimes. And on top of it all, I think there is little to fear in shadows...after all you need light to make them and if shadows make you nervous, step out of them and into the light.

1. I think we all live in the shadow of someone. In some area of our lives, we feel at least just a touch inadequate when measured against those that have gone before us. I am a pretty confident woman, and I find myself able to keep perspective on the roles I take in life...wife, secretary, youth sponsor, counselor, mentor, director, etc...but by far the role that makes me feel the most inadequate is mother. I look around me at some wonderful women that I know and I feel their superior efforts in motherhood overshadow mine....they seem so patient, and calm and kind and soft-spoken with their children....and I was not, am not, at least not all the time. I failed pretty miserably in some aspects. Then I look to my own mother, and as with most women, I think we see our mothers as pretty human, knowing they were not perfect and we were certainly in an intimate position to know that, not like outsiders looking in at her parenting. I look at my mom in the most forgiving way I can, knowing that while she was not perfect in her mothering, she loved me the best way she knew how. And with her gone now, I sorely miss her, in all her imperfections. So I will glad stand in the shadow of the love she gave me and be glad of it.

2. It was such a lovely day today...it's been a mild winter to be sure, but today the sun shone so brightly and there was definite warmth in it. So I took great pleasure in the shadow of me that it cast and took a few moments to bask in the warm promise of spring to come.

3. I am not a big fan of overhead lighting. I find the shadows strangely intimate and so when I am in a room in the evening I prefer an ambiant light to the harsh bright light. I had a night at home tonight, a rare occurrance and so I hid in the shadows in my den with a couple of candles on and a single 25w lamp on and read my book in comfort and obscurity, a little hidden from the world.

The Joy Dare - Feb 15

A gift in losing something, finding something, making something

I used to get so miffed when I couldn't find something I needed...my car keys, sunglasses, an ingredient for a recipe I was sure I had...you know the routine, but I could get myself so worked up about it and fling into a good old rant about how someone must have stolen it...etc. etc. Sheesh...I look back on it now and think that was such a waste of time. There really can be a gift in the lost and found of life...

1. There is nothing like being in a rush in the morning and not being able to find the thing you need to walk out the door with...keys, phone, glasses, lunch....today it was my purse. I knew I had left it on the kitchen counter the night before but it was none of the usual places I stash it when my honey quips at me to 'get that sack out of here before I throw it out'. He's always nagging me that my purse is left lying around all the time and never in an 'out of the way' place. I was looking for it this morning and muttering under my breath about my husband likely hiding it on me to 'teach me a lesson' and then I paused and remembered 9/11. Yes, the September 11, 2001 when tragedy hit America in the form of terrorism. What does that have to do with my missing purse you ask? Well, I always wonder how many people that morning couldn't find their keys, or their car wouldn't start, or their child made a fuss at the daycare, or their train was late...the few minutes they lost in the searching, or being frustrated, or calming or waiting may very well have saved their life in the end. It always makes me think how no occurance is a coincidence and nothing is outside of God's knowledge or understanding. So I meandered around another couple of minutes this morning asking God to bring to mind where my purse might be when He wanted me to find it....and I did find it...sitting on a chair tucked under the kitchen table. And then I thanked him for the delay and walked out the door feeling quite certain that I was right on time. It's a gift to feel secure.

2. This may be stretching it a bit, but I found a sweet memory today...the school I work in, is under renovations and part of the new layout is the conversion of our old school (literally) gym into a learning commons (that's the new name for library by the way). We have a large high school sized gym left attached to our building from a private school that used to be in the building and our old library is being converted to classrooms...we're growing. When I looked in the new learning commons I saw the new set of risers in the midst of being carpeted and in behind them is 'the pit' in which will be a ton of pillows and a perfect place to hide-a-way with a good book. Oh I loved my library in elementary school....I was a book fiend and almost to the point of being anti-social I read everything in sight in my grade school years...I began reading at 3 1/2 years old and was onto early chapter books by kindergarten. It was a fantasy world, out of myself and I could go ANYWHERE...I looked at those carpeted risers and it brought me back to Penbrooke Meadows School and sitting on the risers there with pillows while the librarian read us The Hobbit...I was lost in Middle Earth in rapture...and I was eight years old...it was such a sweet found memory it brought tears to my eyes....as it is right now while I type this. A sweet gift.

3. I feel I make things every day...I write often... I love it; the weaving of words into story, fictional or real. In the past couple of days, a new project is coming to light, burgeoning if you will into my conscience and I have a cautionary excitement about it. I've decided to pursue it and I began 'making' it tonight. When I craft a writing project I map it out...literally...on paper with pencils and markers, building character sketches, plot lines, etc....I am a busy woman, I truly have little time for this that takes a large bit of time. And really writing is a very solitary art especially for me as I am a very social relational person. But when the ideas flow there is no stopping them...I think they come from outside of me, and truthfully it is a gift to be a part of it. And really I have the midnight to 4am shift wide open...what else would I do with it? Sleep? Pfft...

I'm finding the gifts are everywhere...it's just about opening our eyes to look. Joy, indeed.

The Joy Dare - Feb 14

Three ways you feel the love of God
You're kidding me right? There are few things I know for certain in this world and the one I am most assured of, that I know beyond my own capability of understanding, is that God loves me. I could find a hundred ways in a minute to tell you of that love, but I'll pick three that I felt today.

1. His word is a constant balm to my soul, soothing daily, wiping away fear and sorrow, giving encouragement. Today I made a decision to follow His Spirit's prompting and in the middle of revealing it to a pertinant other I was told my decision was an answer to prayer. Romans 8:28 has come across my path a number of times today...not from in my head but outside sources...'All things work together for the good of those who love him and are called to his purpose.' It was His reminder that He is in the midst of my decision and will work it out...once again soothing, calming, enlightening. His Word shows He loves me.

2. He lets me do what I love, or love what I do...I am not sure which came first, the doing or the loving but it hardly matters. Today over texting, I had a young woman approach me for counsel and I was able to help her with an issue and provide a couple of solutions and to give her some encouragement and love. It's such a joy to do that. There's a saying out there...'God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called'. I know I am called...He gives my life purpose and in that He shows me love.

3. The taste of food, not just food itself, but it's taste is proof-positive that God loves us. Food is fuel for our bodies, it could have been that we would just mindly ingest it and keep on going, but no, God gave us tastebuds and then flavours that give us pleasure. I shared a lovely meal with my honey tonight, that he made for us and it tasted so divine. Really what other purpose does the taste of food have but to give pleasure to us whom He loves?

I feel His love every day, in a hundred ways...these are just a few of today's joy.

The Joy Dare - Feb 13

Three gifts found behind a door...
Well mostly I find dust bunnies behind my doors and I am not overly grateful for them. However I do have a number of doors in my life, both literal and figurative and the people and things I find behind them are a mixed blessing. Some I am mightly glad to open, like my front door at the end of a difficult work day, and some that are more difficult to walk through, like the doors in my mind locked shut against the true motives for some of my actions...I like those things to stay behind those doors. But the joy of the dare, is to find the gifts and so I have.

1. I spent most of my afternoon at work opening and closing the blasted doors of the blasted photocopier trying to find the blasted little bit of a piece of paper that was jamming it up and feeling mighty frustrated, which may have compounded by the line up of teachers needing their stuff copied. There was not a lot of joy behind these doors, until I opened the one where I had success at finding the offending paper bit. Oh, the joy to have succeeded at the quest and having powered the beast up again. It's a bit of an allegory here...we sometimes have to persevere with the doors in our lives, opening up a lot of duds before we find what we looking for, or at least what we need. But there is such relief in the eventual success of doggedness.

2. My boss has been holding 'fireside chats' these last few days. It's just a way for him to find out what is going on with his staff, their successes and frustrations in the current year, their intentions for the coming year. I spend a short 1/2 hour in conversation with him in conversation, and he's only been my boss since November. But man, I am loving my job, the new duties, the satisfaction of doing good work, helping people...and I told him so. And then he gave me some lovely complements on my work and demeanor and how 'I care for people'. It actually brought a lump to my throat...because at the heart of who I am is a lover of people and most of the time, I just love them because I know God loves me, and so I love them for Him. But it's kinda nice to have someone notice it in me and thank me for it. I don't 'need' it, I'd do it anyway without the thanks, but it's nice to hear it sometimes. An unexpected gift.

3. Behind the door of our rehearsal hall at church tonight we held dinner theatre auditions. Can I just say that theatre hums in my blood? It is just an integral part of my make up...how I'm wired. Behind this door, a three and half month process began that gives me a chance to bring together as a director a community of like-minded people to bring to the stage , in this case a brilliant comedy, to draw others to a church, some for the first time to darken its doorstep and so begin a step towards a different eternity. How like God is that...that He would wire and gift us in a specific way, give us an opportunity to use the gifting in a way that totally floats our boat and builds a tight-knit community, and gives it an eternal purpose to bring good and glory to His name? That is THEE best gift.

Just open the doors...

The Joy Dare - Feb 12

Three hard eucharisteos - ya, I had to look it up too....a eucharisteo is a life-filling gratitude – the practice of which is exercised in recording blessings, one by one and hard ones would be those blessings found in difficult things...hmmmm.

Recording blessings one by one....well, I think I've been doing that for the past 11 days, but life-filling gratitudes, well those are pretty big I would think. I would think those would leave you feeling so overwhelmed with gratitude as to bring tears to your eyes. So to find three of them in a single day might bring me to my knees, incapacitated. I think these gratitudes, these recognized gifts, come in small things recognized in a large context.

1. I subbed in for my daughter in a Sunday school class of three-year-olds this morning. There were twenty-one of them, bless their hearts and two other adults besides me. I was sweating when I left an hour and a half later. But with a new sense of innocence that I think I had forgotten. Innocence is stolen so early from our children these days. The information highway moves at an awfully high speed and strips virtue so early that by ten years old there is a jaded quality in children with regards to their knowledge of the world. But innocence does remain...I was reminded again by these sweet, precious little bundles of energy, pure motion, and emotion and discovery. What an equisite blessing and gift.

2. Because of keys locked in a car by mistake, I had the pleasure of a half hour car ride with my dear niece. We talked of her day plans and her future plans and of family and friends and a little about life. She has been in the city on her own now for over a year....I say alone but what I mean is her parents moved a province away and her brother and his family another province away in the other direction. As a result our family has been her only blood connection here and we've had the pleasure of just being there for her in the day to day situations that occur....like the lost keys of today...and also to include her in our family times and celebrations, like Sunday dinners and birthday celebrations. As we sat around our dinner table tonight with her and the rest of us, it brought to mind the importance of family and feeling of connection it brings. I am not even sure I can express the depth of attachment between family members and what it means to me without a few dozen pages of tribute to it, but I can share that our family ties and innate understanding run so deep that even in the midst of our greatest antagonisms and disagreements and anger, we know that no one is going anywhere and we are certain that our love for one another will not fail...ever. That is a blessing, a gift that brings deep gratitude.

3. I watched the Grammys tonight and as I watched Jennifer Hudson sing I Will Always Love You as a tribute to the recently deceased Whitney Huston and I cried. For the tragic, tragic loss...just heartbreaking. This dear woman, torn apart by the lack of her own sense of worth, chose drugs to deaden her pain...She came from a gospel music background, from a legacy of faith, so somewhere she must have heard and known where true hope comes from...the tragedy is the loss of the life she could have had. Now while her death is no small occurance, it will make little difference in my life....but I choose to take the gift of the reminder from her heart-breaking death. I will not forget where my hope comes from....I will not despair, even in the worst of experiences....I will remember that while this life is temporal and I have the greatest hope beyond it, I will not waste it on regret, but forgive, ask for forgiveness and move on to something better tomorrow than today. And the gift, the blessing, the eucharisteo is the God-centred life, more adventurous and exciting and fulfilling than I could ever have on my own. That's a big one.

My goal this week is to use the word 'eucharisteo' in the course of normal conversation. Wish me luck. :)

The Joy Dare - Feb 11

Three gifts in working...

Well, I was not working at my paid job today...it is a Saturday. And while I do love my job and the paid work I do there, there are often times I feel that the working for a living, just gets in the way of the living. I have a busy life outside of my job, and it is the true work of my life and there are many gifts I find there.

1. I actually had a pretty lazy morning at home, but I was having people over after church today for a potluck dinner, so I found myself baking buns and putting together a beef stew for the crock pot. I do love to feed people, and it's not just about the food. There is something about coming together around a table or in our living room that brings everyone together. Food is a great equalizer. We all must eat. So I take joy, great joy in bringing that together...It's a gift to be able to gift it to others.

2. My other volunteer 'work' right now is putting together a team to take on a mission trip to Belarus and this evening I interviewed a young woman, now almost twenty, that I used to sponsor in high school youth who had applied to go on the team. What a joy to hear and see God at work in her life. She is much more calm and peaceful; she explained that she trusts God so much more now where in past years, through many family trials, she had been so anxious and fearful about many things. What a gift to be able to see her trusting God to meet her needs....and that I get to spend more time with her preparing for this trip.

3. I was subbing in tonight as a small group leader for some junior high girls and it's February and the LOVE month, so the topic tonight centred around sexual purity. There was a lot of giggling going around the room in small group discussion time, but in the end when asked what they could do to stay pure, they had some great answers and know what they believe. I think the gift here is that at thirteen they are even thinking about this stuff and preparing themselves for the years ahead when they will be sorely tempted to cast aside the beliefs they hold to strongly now. Just opening up the conversation with them was a gift and a privilege.

I really really love my volunteer work. Each time I step out to fill a need, I am always a hundred times more blessed than what my effort has been. There are great gifts in the work we do for others.

The Joy Dare - Feb 10

Three times you heard laughter today

My life is pretty full of laughter. I love to laugh. I find a lot of things funny. I like to be funny. I like to make people laugh. There is something that bubbles up in me when I hear others laugh. I think its joy.

1. My house is often full of people, mostly young people, and tonight it was no different. Some grade 1o girls and their leaders from our youth group were over for a social night. I shared with them one of my favourite movies, Notting Hill. (yes, I have a lot of romcom movies, don't judge) and I know it well enough that I began to giggle in anticipation of the 'funny bits', which got the girls giggling at me, which turned into loud guffaws when the 'funny bits' finally came. There is nothing I like better than the sound of the laughter of young people in my house and thankfully I still hear it often.

2. I was showing some people a video of a 'talent show' piece (and I use the word talent here loosely) that our mission team to Belarus 'performed' as part of an activity in an English camp we were hosting last summer. Our team was lip syncing to 'Stop' by the Spice Girls and showing our mad dance skills...well those I was showing it to laughed like crazy, never mind the screams and laughter I heard on the video that lifted my heart. Every time I make a fool of myself and I hear that...it's worth it everytime. See it here for yourself http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/video/video.php?v=118338038263467 and maybe you'll hear the gift of laughter too.

3. I have these little wind-up toys on my desk at work....one of which is a set of clattering teeth. The students in our school are age 5 to 10, the prime age for loosing baby teeth. As a result I get a lot of little ones in the office with little teeth that have popped out. I give them a little treasure chest to put their tooth in (so it doesn't get lost in the backpack) and then I set my little wind-up set of teeth to chattering to make the child grin their smile with a hole in it. Well I had a little five year old in today...and when I set the clattering teeth a-going, she started giggling and couldn't stop...her little cheeks puffed up, her eyes squeezed shut and she shook with her mirth. It set me and other secretary to laughing too...I had to wind it up three or four times, just to hear that bubbling sound of joy. What a sweet little gift in the day.

If you get a chance to laugh, don't hold it in...let it out, no matter your circumstances, it's always a gift.

The Joy Dare - Feb 9

Three gifts that were surprises...unexpected grace

Um, I don't like surprises. I like to know what's going on; the good and the bad. I guess I feel more able to cope, to handle situations if I know what is going on. As a result, I am pretty good at ferretting things out and am not really often surprised....but if I think hard enough, maybe I'll think of something that made my eyes pop and my jaw drop...even a little bit.

1. I got some news from my daughter today of a young couple I knew quite well, that are now getting married. It was a lovely surprise because they have struggled with much of their relationship...illness, brokeness, betrayal and now restoration. It was a sweet gift to hear they have overcome much of it after six years and are willing to make a commitment of love to one another. Pretty sweet.

2. I watched the Nature of Things tonight, and was surprised to see in depth coverage of a medical trial for treatment of Multiple Sclerosis in Saskatchewan. It was a surprise because it is a trial which our nephew, severely affected by aggressive MS, has applied to be a part of. I would love another great and lovely surprise to hear on February 24, that he has been chosen for the trial....you could pray for that for him. I will be. It was a gift to hear that the study is getting some good public attention....it means more support for the program and more funding perhaps.

3. I checked my stat today on my blog. I don't usually do that...I just kind of forget that the page is there and just go to my dashboard to see who else is posting. But I checked and I was surprised at the number of viewings my postings for the Joy Dare are getting...into the hundreds! O_o I guess it's kind of nice to know...a sweet little gift...that while I write mostly for me, someone else might think it's for them. Nice.

Maybe I like surprises more than I think I do....

The Joy Dare - Feb 8

A gift broken, a gift fixed, a gift thrifted...

Hmmmm, she said. I am not a very thrifty person (I am afraid I am a spender by nature). I do like a good deal, and I am not adverse to the VV Boutique(or Value Village, the local second hand place). And while I do not neccessarily work well with my hands, I am a fixer of situations by nature, a caretaker...or a taker -carer of things, if that makes sense. I am not good at letting others fix things for me. But broken things, broken people, oooooo, they pierce my heart and they are a gift of the utmost preciousness.

1. A gift broken....a young woman gave her testimony at youth...it was a tough one...from a broken life. But like many young broken people when God gets a hold of their hearts, her story is a gift of His graciousness and love. She is not fixed, her story is not over (none of ours are) but the story of her pain, her broken family, her grief, shows how God through His love and the love of His people that He put around this young woman, can sustain us through our brokendness. Her story held us spellbound through it all. It was a gift.

2. A gift fixed....I may be taking some liberties with the meaning of the word fixed in this case....but.... I met with another young woman today, and hers was a story of being built up by God over the past year. She shared her story with me over an interview for a spot on a missions team I am putting together. I've known her for just a few months, but her nature and her faith and her buoyancy spoke to me...and now she is fixed on our missions team. It is a gift to have her...to know I'll get to spend more time getting to know her and sharing with her a cross-cultural experience that will change her life. That is a gift.

3. A gift thrifted....well, I am not sure if this count for this one, but let's see...I got a letter in the mail today from my son's insurance company. He had a very serious car accident last April, and as a result of the claim he submitted, the agent told him to continue to pay his premiums until the claim was settled and they would call and let him know. Well, we've been paying for ten months and the last four months I've been badgering him to call and figure out what's going on and cancel the policy (you know, trying to get him to take responsibility...ugh, painful). He finally did and we got a notice that they would backdate the cancellation to the date of the accident...10 months ago. So we'll get 10 months of premiums reimbursed to us...so we thrifted some dough away, even though we thought it was throwing money away. A nice little gift to be sure!!

There is a gift in everything...the broken, in the fixing, and in the thrifting away of things....

The Joy Dare - Feb 7

Three gifts red
Red is indeed my favourite colour...I see it everywhere and appreciate most everywhere I see it...a sunrise or sunset, in food, in nature, in clothing, a blush on the cheek, a blush rose, in a fire's flame. It's a vibrant colour and it speaks life and health...mostly. There are those times when blood red makes us cringe, or cry, or mourn as we it in death...some associate it with the devil...and so we can fear it.
This is as deep as it's going to get for this one as my red gifts were pretty temporal today but they made my heart smile as I thought of them.

1. I am not really a vain person, but oh, how I adore having long red nails. They make me feel pretty and girlie and like I can take on the world...and they are a selfish thing just for me. They make me feel a little guilty sometimes but then I look at them for a while and that feeling goes away. I think its a little thing that gives me such great pleasure.

2. Yes, I drive a station wagon, not the most luxurious of cars...okay, it's all practicality and little luxury (mine has a sun roof and climate control people....AND... a third fold down seat in the back, people pay big money to ride in the back hatch of my wagon), but my wagon is red...it's a happy wagon. I think of all the kids I have driven places in that car, the laughter that has filled it, the tears I've cried in it, with others and on my own. Lord, we spend so much time in our vehicles in this country, I am so grateful for all I have been able to do, and places I've gone, and things and people I've carried in that wagon. And people see me coming, and they know me by it, and they start waving even before they see I'm driving it. It's the Schmidt wagon (careful how you say that). It's a gift.

3. Lord, I love my son and I'm proud of him. No he's not red, except when he blushes and then he's so cute. We went out with friends tonight to the Highwood restaurant at SAIT where my son is taking Professional Cooking. The three week module he's in right now is Dinner Service and so he was in the kitchen tonight, cooking for our meal service, a delightful five course meal...there were red tomatoes and bacon in the Mussels in Saffron Creme, there were some red spices in the butternut squash soup, there were red tomatoes in my deconstructed Cobb salad (which was my son's station tonight), my strip loin was a red medium rare, and the dessert...ooo, a chocolate trio, with red raspberries on the the chocolate brioche, and in the red velvet mousse...that's to say nothing of the red wine. It was an expensive meal, but such a lovely gift made all the more sweet knowing my son partook in it's preparation, training in something he loves so passionately. Oh that we could all have that gift.

Well, maybe a little more depth than I thought....I am such a blessed woman. Such gifts I've been given.

The Joy Dare - Feb 6

Three gifts found outside
I was feeling pretty lousy today. I stayed home from work and as a result barely stuck my nose outside at all today....but I could see it and it was a lovely day...

So my three gifts today are all in one lovely moment. There had been a light dusting of snow in the early morning, so everything looked fresh. My son came begging for a ride to the train station and I resisted but gave in....and I was glad I did. I walked out the door to start the car and inhaled that fresh new-fallen snow smell...it's crisp, and it hadn't snowed in a while so there was this musky under-odor...it smelled like spring to me. The sun was so bright and I could actually feel it's warmth, which usually doesn't happen until the end of April at least. Then there was this area of pretty untouched smooth snow, and the sun sparkled diamonds off of it. The moment took barely 30 seconds but it stayed with me all day and made me smile everytime I thought about it.

There must be three gifts in there somewhere...

The Joy Dare - Feb 5

One gift stitched, one hammered, one woven...
1. I have a lot of clothes. And while it may sound a bit trite and selfish, I really love my clothes...that I can afford them (mostly, I do have a lot of them), that they make me feel good about how I look....and I have much gratitude for those clothes. I have seen too many in poverty to know how fortunate I am, and to know that just because I have them, doesn't mean I don't have poverty of spirit.
2. I have a lovely cedar bench/swing in the back yard. I was only outside for about 15 mins today in the +5C sunshine, but it was so nice to sit and swing and feel the promise of spring.
3. There's nothing like a sweet blankie to curl up with on a Sunday evening...I am wrapped in a pretty one right now, relaxing with my peppermint tea and my honey...and the Simpson??? :P

The Joy Dare - Feb 4

Three gifts found while bending down...

When my son was little, he used spend half his days bent over looking at something in front of him, especially if he was outside. I am sure he found a hundred gifts a day that way.

I don't bend down much....umm, things....seem to just get in the way, so I thought I would fail miserably at finding these gifts but I acquitted myself admirably I believe...

I mean, what do you really find when you bend down?

1. I bent over and put on my Toms this morning....listen I do like shoes of different colours and styles, but seriously I LOVE my Toms....I love how they feel on my foot, I like how it feels when I walk in them, the fabric patterns make me squeal with delight. But what I love the most is that five children in the world have shoes they needed because I have bought five pairs of Toms shoes. Now that's a gift.

2. I bent over and took my laundry out of the dryer....and the fresh, brisk, clean air wafting in from the vent mixed with subtle fresh linen fragrance of the fabric softener kept me in that position for a half minute or so, truly appreciating clean, fresh clothing. It's a gift.

3. I bent over and dried my legs when I got out of the shower today...and I noticed specifically the scar from a serious infection I contract a couple of years ago. I had a abcess and they dug it out, and for three weeks pumped me full of antibiotics, IV and oral, until finally some three months later the wound finally, completely healed...I am grateful I still have that leg. If my infection had happened like 15 or 20 years ago, I could have lost my leg. Good, really good health care, is a great gift.

I should bend over more often...

The Joy Dare - Feb 3

Feb 3 - three gifts in the written word


I am a writer by nature and by nature too, a communicator. I find gifts in words all the time, daily even. Words are just words until they are strung together, one after another until the lyrical forms and becomes poetry and song, and prose and story and dialogue and sweet heaven to my eyes and ears and heart.


1. ‎'' To see a World in a Grain of Sand And Heaven in a Wild Flower,Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour...''-William Blake (A FB post)


2. I had intended on calling you and thanking you for your sincere compassion this morning.
I really do appreciate your concern and your prayers. Your email brought tears to my eyes-the good ones ;) and I can not thank you enough for your kind words and blessings. (email from a co-worker whom I had sent a word of encouragement to)


3. I am in a period of reflection...like I'm sitting on the dock watching deep dark clouds roll away and taking stock of the damage, wondering if I am still intact...not wanting to move from the chair...I shiver at the thought of the fight, but see through the clouds that the sun is there...none of it was in vain... (from my own blog writing a few months ago)

All written word has value of some kind...to explain, to bring knowledge, understanding, to inform good and bad. The words of the heart, though describing self, and others, and humanity and relationship, those are the true gifts....The Bible brings such great wisdom, and love, and revelation....I could write out a thousand gifts from it each day, but instead I write them on my heart.

The Joy Dare - Feb 2

Feb 2, 2012 - three things overheard today, three gifts

Well, I am not much of an eavesdropper, unless it's my children, :)...but I do work in a school with four hundred children and so it's nigh on to impossible not to overhear something that you were not supposed to hear. Whether they are all a gift is another discussion entirely. But here are some approximation of gifts anyway, a couple more blessed than another..

1. A whimpering cry from in the girls bathroom...which brought to light an accident of the liquid variety and the tears of tiny little girl. After which it was my sweet pleasure to calm her embarrassment with assurances that 'it happens all the time,' (which is no lie) and to oufit her shuddering little frame with clean dry clothes and a sealed plastic bag for the not so dry clothes. It is a gift to love and calm another.

2. A whispered request from a co-worker for a moment alone...and her unburdening of difficulties and sadness and an inability to continue for the day. It was an opportunity to give encouragement and reassurances.

3. A mumble prayer at life group, supplications for the saints and the sinners...and that was just us around the table...and gratitude for the gift of heaven and the hope it brings which was what we'd been studying.

Gifts are all around us....while I might have taken all these moments for granted, it is a blessing, a gift, to stop and acknowledge them.

The Joy Dare... February 2012

I saw this on a friend's blog and while it is part of a whole year of noticing the gifts in our lives, I thought could at least do this for one month...or give it a try.

Feb 1, 2012 - A gift found at 11:30am, 2:30 pm and 6:30pm

11:30 am - a great lunch time conversation that included Haiti, Cambodia, Belarus, need in the world, meeting the need in the world, those we love who are doing it....and a few tears in the telling of it all.

2:30pm - being able to calm a dear little one who had a cut on her finger, bandaging it up and kissing it better....and a small smile through tears at the end of it.

6:30pm - the anticipation of being able to share some wisdom with young people as part of a panel at a session of 'Ask Me Anything' Q&A event at our church youth group

It's good to feel blessed.