Friday's Fave Five #883

 Welcome to Friday's Fave Five on this day where we reflect on the great mercy and love of God towards us in sending us His Son, Jesus, to die for us so that we can have eternal life with Him.  My prayer today is that your heart knows this truth.  

I will be joining in later today.  It was a busy week with work and other happenings and in all honesty I totally forgot what day I was on and didn't realize till bedtime that it was Thursday night and I hadn't written my FFF post.   Please go ahead and link you own posts and I will post mine as soon as I can.  

UPDATE:

Thanks for being patient.  I don't know how I forgot what day it actually was.  Too many things on my plate this week, I guess.  But onwards and upwards as they say.  Time to reflect on the goodness of God in my life over the past week.

~ Good Friday ~ as a believer, the great blessing in my life this week in what Jesus did on the cross.  He bore my pain, my sin and shame, He made a way to cross the chasm that exists between a Holy God and creator and His creation that falls into sin(me and you) so that we can be in relationship with our God.  He exchanged our filthy rags for garments clean as snow and gave us His peace in exchange.  Are we perfect? No.  But I now have an eternal hope and home.  And you can too.  The bible says in John 1 verse 12 

 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

I will forever be grateful and thankful for that!

~ OCC regional team meeting ~ Tuesday night was an online meeting of Connect Volunteers in my region for Operation Christmas Child.  It was great to see faces from all over Alberta and Yukon who head up volunteer areas in OCC.  It was an hour of encouragement, information of upcoming events, and prayer.  It was the first meeting like this that I have attended and I really enjoyed being with others who have been involved in this wonderful ministry.

~ supper out with family ~ we had a spur of the moment dinner out with my sister in law and her hubby last Friday evening.  They wanted us to try a diner they liked to eat at.  The food was good and the company fun. 

~ taste of spring ~  we had a couple of beautiful warmish spring days this week before we were plunged back into cold and snow.  But I'm thankful it wasn't the harsh winter snow but the wet snow that signals the seasons changing so I know spring is on it's way.  Here the snow melted quite quickly, and I'm grateful for the moisture after a really dry winter.  My Japanese fern peonies are starting to poke through the dirt so full on spring weather is only a matter of time.

~ better mobility ~ the ol' knee injury has been healing and this week it has been feeling pretty good.  At least the area where the injury was.  I can pretty much go about as usual without being hyper aware of how I make every movement without feeling ache or pain from the injury.  Now if I could just get rid of the arthritis ache I might just think I'm 20 again.  Maybe.

~ fun projects with the dayhome ~ because it's Easter the kids were really wanting to do quite a bit of arts and crafts which I always really enjoy with them.  Sometimes it's a planned one but most times I just give them items and see what they come up with.   I love the creativity they have.  

I want to wish every a very happy Easter holiday and Resurrection Sunday!  Thank you so much for joining me weekly being grateful for the blessings God brings into our individual lives.

“Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer for having made it.” –A.W. Tozer

Friday's Fave Five #882

Well apparently I should be putting my button with the snow back up but I just can't bring myself to.  Yes it snowed here again this morning.  And boy it was chilly today.  Spring weather please come back and stick around for good!  But weather being a blessing or not where you are, let's pause and look for those things that did bless us this week and be thankful to God for them.  Please join in with us.

~open windows~   funny enough I put this on my list on the weekend when it was gorgeous outside and I had my windows open for little bit to let the fresh air run through the house.  In spite of the snow and cold today I am thankful for those few days this week where it really did feel like the warmth of spring and I could throw open the windows for a bit.

-helpful agent- a very long and complicated story that started I think, during covid, when our internet service provider sold their email accounts to the big "G" mail and migrated all their accounts over there.  Long story short, I was really messed up in the migration and ended up with three different google accounts each handling different things.  No migration agent was able to get it all put together and I finally gave up trying and just used them the way they were.  Fast forward years later and  Monday night when it all went south as I watched in horror as one by one all my accounts shut me out no matter what trouble shooting I followed.  So reluctantly I called my provider knowing I'd have to try and explain the mess everything was in and hope they could at least recover my email address.  I was connected to a lovely, helpful young man who within 40 minutes had rearranged and diverted things and now I'm pretty much working under one account, even the ones they had left under the temporary migration address which technically should not have been working once the migration was done years ago.  I'm thankful for the patient and kind help I received and that the agent talked in a way I could understand and that he resolved in 40 minutes what spending hours upon hours on the phone with migration agents years ago could not fix.  

~ library time ~ I haven't been to the library in ages so was happy to have the chance to go on Saturday and spend some time browsing through something other than the kids section.  I find it a great stress release just to browse and see what's new.  I limited myself to only one book as I'm trying to make it through the piles of books I own.  I'm thankful I have a good library in my city.

~ phone chats ~ I received an unexpected phone call from my friend who sent me the lovely water color I mentioned a couple of weeks back.  It was so nice to chat with her and get all caught up again.  I' thankful that unlike back in the day, long distance within the country is free and keeps us connected.

~ lunch out ~ I had the pleasure of treating my friend out to lunch on Saturday.  We tried a new to us restaurant and found it delicious.  But most of all the company was great and again, it was nice to catch up with someone I hadn't seen in a few months.

What were your favorite blessings you are thankful for?

Friday's Fave Five #881

It's Friday and we're back to share our favorite blessings of the week.  If it's a great week, it's easy to come up with things to be thankful for.  But if it's been a most ordinary week, sometimes we have to look a little harder to take note and if the week has just been tough even the effort to do so might seem out of reach.  But if we develop the intentional habit of doing so then when those hard or uneventful weeks come we can still have hearts of gratitude.  We see things differently and what seems to be such a small thing is in our new perspective small miracles.  Please join in as we develop eyes that notice our blessings and hearts of gratitude.

~ more good days than hard ones with my knee ~ Praise God, my knee injury seems to be improving.  I still have some days where it's sore and tired but I haven't had any actual pain episodes all week.  Yesterday I was able to go for a decent walk and still have it feeling good. Stairs are still a challenge as is sitting in a chair with it bent for long periods, but I'm not getting the crazy pain with certain movements.   The good days with it are starting to outweigh the bad.   Hey, maybe it'll be totally cleared up by the time the knee injury clinic actually gives me a call for an appointment.  🤔🙄

~ Tux, the furball who needs his walks ~ I'm thankful for my dog who has got me out the door for walks.  Some days I was only able to make it around the school yard across the street and some days I could go a few blocks and yesterday was about 10 blocks.  If it wasn't for him, I'd be more tempted to put my feet up after work.  But he has got me out the door.  I'm sure the movement has helped with my knee.  I'm not walking as fast or as far but for both him and me, something is better than nothing.  

~ gorgeous morning sky ~  this was a gorgeous morning sky I got to witness.  Unfortunately around here the old saying "Red sky in morning: sailor's warning" rings true as we've had insane wind all week.  But I'll be thankful for eyes to see the beauty before it literally blew away.  

~ spring time treat ~ I try not to buy chocolates as a rule but I do like the occasional treat of a Lindor Truffle.  And springtime brings out the pistachio flavor which is one of my favorites.  Marshal's ( (Canada's T.J.Maxx) gets them in and for less money than anywhere else so how can one say no?  

~ great Sunday service ~ Sunday's message was so good and really spoke to me.  I'm so glad to be back at church after missing most of February.  Watching online is nice, but being there and getting to connect with others is what makes church special for me.  

What were your favorite blessings from the week?

Women & Children First by Gill Paul ~ Book Review

Reg Parsons is 21 years old and has secured a job on the Titanic as a first class steward.  He's worked on other ships before but with this position he's hoping to save enough to start a business of his own.  Juliette Mason-Parker is travelling in first class with her mother who is determined to find Juliette a rich husband and have her married off before her pregnancy becomes obvious and their reputations are ruined.  Annie McGowan's husband went to America 18 months ago to find a job and now her and their four children are aboard the Titanic in 3rd class excited to see Seamus once again and start a new life.  But when the Titanic sinks not only are their dreams in shatters now they must navigate the uncertainty, the PTSD and the guilt of having survived the horrific event.  Coming to terms with what they saw will not be easy, moving on even harder and each handles it in their own way.  Will they ever stop hearing the cries of those that died around them while they made it alive?

Titanic is a buzzword for me in stories and this one took a different perspective than those I've read before.  Most of the stories basically stopped when the rescue ship Carpathia arrives,  but this story mostly dealt with how these 3 survivors tried to carry on their lives as survivors while so many didn't make it.  The first part of the story lays the background of their lives and the reasons they were sailing on the ship and the second deals with how they tried to rebuild.  It was a very interesting perspective.  Most of the story is told through the perspective of Reg the first class steward but the main characters lives all intersect and  connect both on the ship and afterward.  The story was gripping and the description of the sinking, though I've read other Titanic stories, still kept me on the edge of my seat.  Character development was good and it was interesting to read, in spite of it being fictional, some of the decisions of the characters that were made post survival.  While it's easy to sit in judgment of them seeing it as horrible decisions from our viewpoint, it made me think of actual survivors and how they would have had to make split second decisions just having passed through the immense trauma that they did, arriving in a place they didn't know, with literally nothing, possibly filled with regrets at what they might have done or didn't do during the disaster.  The book also explored a bit of the spiritualism that was popular in America at the time of the sinking as some survivors desperately consulted mediums to try and connect with loved ones they had lost.  It doesn't dwell on it but neither does it shirk from that part of the Titanic survivors history.  I found the story drew me right into the lives of these characters. 

I rated it a 9.5/10

Friday's Fave Five #880

Welcome to Friday's Fave Fives.  I'm keeping my tulip button up this week in a determined effort to believe spring is just around the corner.  We had a snow dump yesterday morning and another is expected over the weekend starting this afternoon.  We had such a dry winter that I'm going to choose to be thankful for the moisture.  Eventually in it's own good time spring will be here.  But until then let's look back over the week and find what blessed us and share five of our favorites.

~ weekend movie afternoons ~ Hubby and I have an extensive blu-ray collection that has built up over the years.  This year we determined to watch one of them a weekend and make a decision whether its a favorite and something we will watch over and over again and therefore a keeper or whether we feel we're good to say goodbye to it. It's been kind of fun looking forward to the shared time and it feels good to free up space 

~ vanilla slice treat ~ Hubby had to make a delivery in a little town that has a good Dutch bakery and he stopped in and picked me up one of my favorite pastries.  Vanilla slices remind me of my childhood when Mom and Dad would treat us with one occasionally.  It was very thoughtful of him and I enjoyed every bite.  

~ surprise mail ~ Yesterday I opened the mailbox to find this cute envelope in there addressed to me. (Of course I scratched off the personal info on it,)

 Upon opening it,  I found the most lovely watercolor painting of a book and flowers, 2 of my favorite things.  My friend painted me a picture to let me know she was thinking of me.  What a blessing that was on the tail end of a tough month.  She had no idea I'd been sick or injured my knee, yet at just the perfect timing she sent me this.  The envelope already had me smiling but the painting and note was a real gift.  I'm going to frame it for my bookshelves.  Isn't she talented?  And she only started painting last fall.  

~ time change ~ Ok I am going to be quite frank, I hate the time change, whether springing ahead or falling back.  My body just does not handle it well.  But I am thankful for more daylight at the end of the day.  I just wish they would quit messing with nature the way God created it and let my circadian rhythm stay the in the same groove throughout the year.  

~ a return to neighborhood walks ~ my knee has healed enough that I have been able to get out some days after work to take Tux for short walks around the neighborhood.  Sometimes it's only around a block or two before the knee starts getting fatigued or sore but yesterday I was able to go over a mile.  Not briskly, but a nice slower yet steady pace.  So thankful to be able to be out doing that again.  

What have been your favorite blessings this week?

Friday's Fave Five #879

Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  This is our place to pause and be thankful for the blessings in our past week.  Our lives can be so busy with things pulling us in all directions that it is so easy to not even notice blessings that come our way much less take the time to thank God for them.  On Friday's this is our time to, even for a few minutes, push that pause button and intentionally both notice and give thanks.  Please join us as we share five of our favorites from the week.

~ words of encouragement ~ words are so important and I am thankful I had several encouraging ones this past week.  From friends God used to text or call or comments left on posts, I have felt lifted up and want to say thank you.  Sometimes all we need is a few cheerleaders in our lives once in awhile to get back on track.

~ doctor's appointment ~ I finally bit the bullet and made a doctor appointment to figure out what is going on with my knee.  It's been a month and I thought by now it would have been all better but it is still acting up.  Well, turns out my doc thinks I ripped my cartilage.  So off to a knee clinic I go to get their opinion and recommendations.  It's a relief to know what is causing the weird and sometimes painful symptoms.  So now we'll see what the knee clinic recommends.  May be some exercises, maybe a brace till it heals fully or may be nothing at all.  We'll find out.  Thankful for a doctor who is on top of it.

~ signs of spring ~ from the warmth of the sun when it shows up, to the birdsong, to the snow melted away, to the beginnings of some green grass poking through the brown in some areas, yes even some of the crazy winds, all are signaling a change in seasons.  Oh I know, being southern Alberta we'll probably see another dump of snow or two, but it a different kind of snow than what we get in the midst of winter.  And what really signals spring?  The dreaded time change this weekend where we lose an hour.  But, hey, it's all announcing warmer and longer days are coming!

~ big hugs from little arms ~ for some reason some of the little ones in dayhome have been extra generous with their hugs this week.  I'll take them anytime they want to give them!

~ good laughs ~ this week there has been a few moments of real good laughter whether between me and Hubby or the dayhome kids or my sister or friends.  What a gift laughter and joy are.  Thankful I have these wonderful moments.

What are you most thankful for this week?

Letting Go

Full disclosure here.  I think I'm burned out a bit.  As I sit and look at my blog, I am sad about the utter lack of content other than Friday's Fave Five posts.  At least last year I also had book reviews.  And way back when I used to write a lot.  But this year, I feel like I've so far hit a wall.  I don't know what it is.  Delayed grief and exhaustion from the last 3 years probably has something to do with it.  Tired of working a 50 hour work week is a lot of it.  I've been chatting with my consultant from the agency trying to figure out a way to go part time in this job of childcare but the options are very, very limited.  I can go down in the number of kids which is nice but I would still be working the same hours and for less money.  I could try and change my program from a 5 day a week to maybe a 4 day or 3 day a week. But that has it's own issues especially with the childcare saturation climate that is in my city right now.  In a knee jerk response to not enough child care spaces, government has licensed way too many new daycares to open and now the ratio is out of balance the other way where now we are competing to fill our empty spaces and cutting back on open days might put me at a disadvantage.  The constant trying to think it through has, frankly, been exhausting.  That is how my mind works. It just keeps replaying everything trying to find options I haven't thought of.  

If I pause, though, my spirit whispers another story.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

Lean not on your own understanding,

In all your ways acknowledge Him

and He shall direct your paths"

Provers 3: 5-6

So much wrapped up in those 4 short sentences.  It asks me to trust in the One who has been faithful in the past and will be in the moment.  To let go of relying on myself.  That is a hard one for me coming from a background of "God helps those who help themselves".  But instead of striving to help myself, God is calling me to simply acknowledge Him in this crossroads, ask Him because He knows so much more, because He has a plan.  And if I do that, the beauty is He will be directing me and placing things together that I might not even understand right now.  It's His timing, not mine.  And when it comes right down to it, no matter how I slice and dice it, it's going to be a step of faith.  Because that is what He wants to grow in me.  If faith is never tested, how do I really even know if I actually trust God?  It's easy to verbally say I have faith in the good times, but if it's never put on the line,  do I really?  Jesus never said life would be easy, but He promised He would always be there and never leave me or forsake me.  Do I really believe that?  I'm working on it.  And I've come to the conclusion that in this lifetime, I will never have arrived.  It is a step by step, day by day growing of my faith and trust in the One who holds me in the palm of His very capable hand.