Resurrection Anglican

I certainly attended the right church on Easter Sunday.

"Resurrection Anglican" is an aptly named place to celebrate the risen, resurrected King!

The empty cross covered with new life...

Such a perfect picture.

Despite the grey rainy day there was celebration and worship and a favourite worship leader was a surprise guest leading us to the throne.

Those Easter hymns just make you want to get saved all over again.

What a powerful and outrageous truth.

The Love of God

The Empty Cross

Absolute Forgiveness

Hope and Life Eternal.

Little clue to as to who the surprise worship leader was...

He wrote "Come, Now is the Time to Worship" and we sang it together.

NOW is always the time to worship! 

My sweet friend Gayle invited Patrice and I over for a very delicious Easter lunch with very fine company. 

Not only was the food scrumptious but the presentation was lovely. 

We were seated at the elders table and all those vibrant younger ones were making merry in another room.  Sad that Patrice was working so she was unable to join in the fun.

I just had to take a picture of the lovely piece of pottery she had displayed on her coffee table. 

And the day ended around this beautiful table with these precious people.  

Dear little Tante Hilda made some delicious cabbage rolls, Mom made the mashed potatoes and it was a fine way to end a fabulous day.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow

Because He lives, all fear is gone. 

Because I know He holds the future

And life is worth the living,

Just because He lives...

(Gaither et al)

Embrace

I'm challenged and encouraged to embrace change...

As much as I want things to look a certain way and as much as I want to "experience" family I'm finding that it's best to open my arms wide...letting go of expectations and embracing whatever the Lord puts in my path. 

There is just so much goodness that is waiting to be experienced and discovered and embraced.

"Family" might look different that what we had once hoped, it might be in flux or it might be painful at times but God has promised to set the lonely into families.

So I want to embrace the wonder of my own family - not being disappointed when it  doesn't pan out the way i had hoped, but looking for God and good all the time.

And creating space for the larger "family" of God that is potentially waiting in the shadows and ready to be embraced and loved. 

This little Easter escapade with my nieces and the kids was over the top wonderful.

Yes, I would have loved to have had my own son and daughter in love be a part of things, but they weren't.

And that's ok.

Because, Look...

This time THESE ONES were present and it was LOVE.

This kind of togetherness is a gift.

These people, this unbelievably beautiful setting.

This Spring...

God has to make these things happen.

Sometimes we experience alone and waiting.

And sometimes the doors fly open and "family" pours in.

There is chaos and laughter and joy and food.

There is nature and beauty and we get to be part of it,

Together in real time.

And yet there is sadness mingled into this wild and wonderful joy.

My sister is home alone, too sick to partake.

My Dad, isolated even in the midst of family. Hopeless and despairing. 

But we choose joy in the loss and in the receiving.

We live in the moment, knowing this is all so temporary.

The joy and the pain.

Fleeting vapours,

Every moment incredibly valuable. 

His beauty, His presence, His life swirls around us.

Foreshadowing glory.

So in these moments we say thank you with every breath.

To the giver of every good and perfect gift.

We breathe Him in

We hold each other close,

Hello's and Farewells almost overlapping as we journey to the place where we will be one.

There will be no separation, no loneliness, no brokenness.

No more farewells.

How Marvellous

Easter has become increasingly more important to me as the years go by.

I was sorry not to attend a Good Friday service due to the big crowd arriving for supper. I needed to conserve energy and work on the meal prep.

However, in those moments alone in the kitchen I raised my arms to heaven and worshiped my Jesus.

Tears in my eyes,

Intense gratitude welling up from deep within.

For what he suffered for me.

Oh how marvellous,

Oh how wonderful

Is this love that cost me nothing but bought me everything.

My beautiful, precious Jesus...

So we celebrated Easter on Good Friday with the family since they were only in town for two days and that was the only time that Daniel could join us. 

There were so many special moments.

The birdie was a pretty big hit. 

Always a challenge to get it to sit still on a new, uncertain finger, but the smiles of joy when that was accomplished were priceless. 

The weather was perfect and the trampoline provided a good outlet for energy and amazing flips.

These kids are very athetlic.

It's sweet to be outdoors again without being cold! 

The Easter Egg hunt proved to be a huge challenge for everyone.

Even Daniel had a hard time helping the kids to find the bunnies which he had obviously hidden very well. 

But they were up to the challenge and the evening sun pouring through the trees spoke of the long season of light and warmth which is upon us once again.

Oh Hallelujah! 

There are still hidden treasures which were never found so perhaps the workers in the orchard will be happy to find small toys as they work.

Thankfully the golden bunnies were located and two out of the three kids found their tic tacs.

Since he was tiny, Luca would come up to me with his hand open saying 

"Tic Tac?" So I try to make sure to have them on hand when this bunch shows up.

Barely had a chance to grab this picture before Daniel ran

 off to get Nicole so they could drive to Langley to be with her family for the weekend, but it was special to have the cousins together again.  

So many sweet moments...

Grateful for these priceless connections and for this little body tucked into my bed for a sleepover.

Up The Hill

So I rallied the troops and we headed up a local ski hill to visit Becci and the family who are skiing for a few days. I figured it would be a lovely prayer drive for Oma, Tante Hilda and Elsie and that they would love the winter scenes and family rendezvous. 

This has been an exceptional year for snow and we left Spring behind when we rounded the corner that heads up the hill. 

This stop sign gives you an idea of how much snow is still hanging around at the end of March!

It was an exquisite drive and such fun to enter the strange white world.

Kind of like opening the closet door to Narnia...

Becci does some writing for a travel company which earns her points towards accommodation and the place she found was over the top amazing. The views were stunning and we felt like we were sitting on top of the world. 

And the best part was connecting with these kids again.

Alexia has grown up.

There's even make up involved!!

(Completely unnecessary as she is simply gorgeous, but we all know what it's like to be 13 and wanting to use PRODUCTS)

And Luca?

Heart melting smile and an eagerness to engage with life and people that is so delightful.  He is incredibly huggable. 

He had managed to get lost and then found on the ski hill during the time we were there.  Thankfully he had the smarts to find a ski patrol and get re-connected with his mother! 

The boys have both won awards for their skiing skills. 

This family spends A LOT of time enjoying the outdoors and skiing is a big deal for them. Maybe we'll have an Olympian in our midst as well one day soon...

As you can see Pupcake was a big hit.  

I'm incredibly grateful that the Lord sent this family to live in Kelowna for those years and that they were right under my roof for about 6 months or so.

There is a sweet connection that is precious and they love coming to Kelowna to see all of us.

Even beautiful Christine drove up from Vancouver.

Vic spent a night up there with his grandkids and had fun skiing with them.

He is my hero.

I seriously can't say enough good things about him.

Again, it was like an angel landed in our midst and he fixed things, did paperwork, loved on us and was his amazing cheerful self.

Here he is with Alexia and below is beloved Becci and her sweet Nico.

Nico is gentle hearted and precious. I wish I had more one on one time with him.

The cool thing about this condo was that it was on a ground floor and there was underground parking so Oma and Tante Hilda didn't have to touch any snow!

I love that they are brave enough to do these outings even though it is physically taxing.

Family is worth it.

The drive down the hill was energized with many prayers and songs of worship. 

That hour was one that sees heaven pulled down onto earth.

I just love the passion in these precious women that are some of my closest companions here on this journey to heaven.

What a thrill to drive down the lake towards our comfy little nests. 

For me it's a picture of our journey towards the ultimate goal - our eternal home.  We see it glimmering off in the distance and it gives us hope to finish the race that we have been called to complete. 

Poor beloved Elsie felt so sick on the way home.

She carries the weight of spiritual warfare in her physical body it seems and I pray that she will experience restoration and healing so that she won't succumb to the difficulty of the path.

He is able to do EXCEEDINGLY and ABUNDANTLY MORE than all we are able to ask or imagine.

That means there are going to be some outrageously wonderful answers to prayers happening very soon!

Arnold

I had the privilege of meeting up with this wonderful fellow today in a grocery store.  He's a real prayer warrior in this region and I know he is going to enjoy a "rich harvest of righteousness" because he just doesn't give up.

He has suffered a great deal in his life as result of years of abuse in the residential schools and a difficult history but what an amazing overcomer he is.

He constantly prays, reads the word and goes out looking for people to encourage and evangelize.  

We had a fabulous visit and time of prayer.  

I had asked the Lord to arrange my day and when another coffee visit didn't work out I just went out to do my shopping and there was Arnold, just waiting to make my day. 

This was the glorious sunset that closed the day for me. 

Amen.

She's Home

   

Outside of my Mom's place there is a protected area where I found this lovely bouquet of daffodils blooming!  

Since yesterday was the first day of Spring it was a perfect day to discover them. 

I've always felt a special affinity for daffodils, possibly because I was a daffodil in an ice skating production when I was about 5 years old.  

I wore this funny yellow hat in the shape of a daffodil as I twirled about in my yellow costume on the ice those many years ago.    

I tried to fix up the house to make it look a little festive for Patrice' arrival home. 

I put the birthday banners out and since I can't blow up balloons I made a little picture collage to hang from the light.

I had this great idea to go out and buy some tulip bouquets for Patrice's bedroom and for the kitchen table so I jumped into the car and was heading into town when I remembered there was a cake in the oven. 

So I quickly went home again. 

Here is the angel food cake I made, forgetting that Patrice gets a stomach ache from eating things with too many eggs.  

Oops. 

I had some company over for supper that night and we enjoyed the cake with whipped cream and blueberries while Patrice sat on the couch in the background. 

Sadly she came home with a cold and didn't have an appetite for food or a party.

So this is us, enjoying the unbirthday cake. 

Home Holiday

I filled up the bird feeder and took this picture of my sweet little visitors.  That's actually a miniature pumpkin at the forefront which I managed to make look like a monster with my fantastic photo skills.  

Totally unintentional, but still pretty amazing. 

I've been feeling a bit like I'm on a holiday at home these days. 

The combination of Spring, no teaching and an empty house is having that lovely 'vacation' effect on me.  Usually I don't do so well mentally/emotionally if I'm home alone for too long, but I can certainly handle a few days in a row - especially if I have a few outings in the midst of the alone time.  Patrice went to Vancouver to spend her birthday weekend with some friends and I'm holding down the fort, so to speak.  And the puppies have been providing wonderful entertainment as I've thrown the rubber chicken into the mix.  It has spiced things up significantly.

So there is a lot of this going on.  

Ladybug hoards the chicken and Moose  looks longingly on. 

Quite pathetic really.

In this particular instance below Moose was the victor. 

I may have taken the chicken away from Ladybug just to even things up.

Plus Moose finally cried and I couldn't handle it anymore.

Who can resist a face like that?

By the way, he is not lying on the bed as it is not allowed.  His back feet are still on the floor but it gives him the feeling of inclusion.

There was a small group meeting on Saturday night with beautiful worship and percussion provided by my favourite friend Matthew who is one of my heroes.  

I even made a trip to the basement which is an unusual occurrence around here. I had an unction to clean and organize the TV room and I had the satisfaction of dusting and throwing out a bunch of old videos. 

Below is the lovely artistic window sill that Patrice looks out on in the room below mine. 

Like I said - it's felt like a holiday as I've visited places I rarely go to anymore. 

Like the basement...

And since Patrice was away I treated the Budgie (whom we occasionally call "Petey") to some time on the kitchen table where he could look out at the birds on the feeder.

He still loves to fly all over the house leaving evidence behind at his favourite perches. 

Much to my dismay.

This morning Moose took off on me when I was outside trying to throw the ball for him.  So I decided to check out where he went and I took myself on a significantly longer "roll" than I usually go on around here. I found this pretty little park near our yard. I'm loving how everything is greening up from all the rain we've been having.

It was so lovely out, with the birds sweetly sending their calls out and with the fresh smell that follows rain.  There was even some sunshine peeking out from the clouds so I enjoyed my little outing.  Ladybug ran around, obviously in her glory and we finally located Moose sniffing around in the neighbours hedge.  Then he managed to beat us home as you can see.  Acting all innocent. The prodigal dog.
And that's the story of my home holiday weekend.