Thoughts from an early morning walk

I went for a walk this morning- going out early to avoid the blackflies that have been taunting me when the sun shines.  The trees were heavy with drops from the rain last night and the world glowed emerald.  Breaths of cool, fresh, forest-scented air filled my lungs.  Beauty like this always makes my heart ache because I know it taps into a part of my heart that is only satisfied in the beauty of its Creator.

In less than one week we will be winging our way once again across the vast world to the very different, yet beautiful land of the Philippines.  I have mixed feelings and find myself in tears a lot.  We were here in Canada long enough that I believe my heart started tricking me into thinking I was going to be here forever.  And with that came a lot of comfort.

Comfort.  Such a difficult word for me.  Almost everything in my being craves comfort.  But the really good things rarely come when I'm completely comfortable.  And too much comfort usually ends up with me discomforted.  All things to point me to the fact that this is not my forever home; this world, this body are not my final resting place.

So with the desire for more, for a greater purpose than comfort alone,  we move on.

A Beautiful Story

From my mom:

Forty-two years ago today, I said "yes" to John when he told me he loved me and wanted to marry me. No regrets! I look back on a couple of young adults, a first year teacher and a guy working 42 days @ 7 days a week, swing shift followed by one week off. Little did we know that Uncle Sam would have a letter in the mail a few short days later that would draft him into the military service. In spite of our plans to have maybe done it differently, the Lord guided in all things and we were married in June of the following year. It was a blessed privilege to be his wife. We have been thankful for our 4 children, 3 of whom we were blessed to raise. I'm thankful too for the grandchildren God gave us, 12 of whom John saw. I am grateful for the nearly 37 years we had together, for the love the Lord gave us for one another and first and foremost for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ who died to save us, and for that blessed day when we will be forever with Him. I'm glad I said "Yes"!

From a 5 year old's perspective-

So, humbling can take different forms...

After our really busy weekend of travelling we were all pretty tired this morning.  We decided that the girls would stay home from school today to get a rest but Winnie really wanted to go.  I asked the other two if they wanted to go and they both agreed with me that it would be good to have a day at home, so we ended up sending Winnie to school by herself.

At supper time I asked Winnie if anyone at school had asked her where her sisters were today.  She said, "No, I just told them!"

"Oh, what did you tell them?" I asked.

"I just told them that Mommy asked my sisters if they wanted to go to school and they said no, they didn't want to go, and I said 'yes', I did want to go."

"Oh, really.  Hmm, did you mostly talk to kids, or did you tell that to some adults too?"

"Oh, it was mostly adults I told that to, Mommy."

Way to cast my parenting skills in a great light, Winnie!  Ha.

"I want to be like that"

Our family traveled this weekend and stayed with a very special family for two nights.  They offered to host us and from the moment we walked in their door on Friday night we were welcomed with open arms.  It is no easy thing to host a family whom you've never met with four little kids.  The kids immediately dove into the totes of toys they had waiting for them and spent every free moment playing with little playmoblie people in a four story play house they had.

They spoiled us rotten with delicious meals, gifted us with boxes of classic books and school supplies, loaned us their GPS for the rest of our time here in Canada and listened patiently as we rambled on and on about ourselves ad nauseum.  

After we got back home tonight the girls discovered a bag of playmobile people and furniture that they sent home with us.

"They are sooooooooooooooooooo sweet!" Winnie exclaimed over and over.  "I want to be like that," she said.

So do I, Winnie.  So do I.

Things About Canada That I Missed #1

Well, after a few month hiatus I really would like to get back to blogging.  Since we are back in Canada for several months I thought I'd post a few things that I'm appreciating about here and some things that I found startling or interesting during our transition back to living in North America.

The first thing that struck me was just after we arrived- wide, open spaces!  I kept taking pictures of non-picture-y places and thinking they were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.  

You'd have to agree that that stretch of highway is gorgeous and picture-worthy, right?  ;)

 Or what about the shoulder of the road next to the grassy field?

 Ok, maybe that isn't so special but perhaps you will agree with me that the puffy white clouds in a bright blue sky above this little path really IS beautiful.  Hooray for wide open spaces!

Things I like about the Philippines, #12

Wow, so it has been awhile- but I'm not without a really great excuse!  :)  My mom came over from the U.S. and visited us for a month.  We had so much fun showing her around the Philippines.  It was delightful to watch her take it all in.  She was such a good sport and let us drag her all over the place.  We went to malls, parks, historical places, restaurants and the beach.  She got to ride in a jeepney a few times and loved it.

Here are some pictures of the fun things we did here in the Philippines and of her enjoying a few of my favorite things that I've already blogged about.

 Checking out the rice delicacies:

Enjoying biko- my favorite!

Trying out halo-halo:

Visiting beautiful and historic Intramuros:

The beach!

Checking out Greenhills market:

And saying goodbye (not my favorite thing!) with a big hug after a wonderful, fun-filled month:

Things I love about the Philippines, #11

Last night Dennis and I went out on a date and I remembered something else that I love about the Philippines.  No, I haven't run out of material, I've just been super busy lately.  :)

First, we went to Dairy Queen and got a little treat.  The fact that there is Dairy Queen here at all is a pretty cool thing about the Philippines, but the best part is yet to come!

Then, we walked down to the movie theater and bought our movie tickets.

Then, we went INTO the movie WITH the food we bought outside of the theater!  Yes!  It's true!  At many theaters here it is A-OK to buy whatever you want and bring it in with you.

You want a burger?  Why not?  A grocery bag full of chocolate?  Sure!  Steak and salad?  Go for it!  But they may draw the line at a rolling buffet, I don't know.