Princess for an Evening

Heaven often touches earth...

Driving up to my friend's place I encountered a group of these elegant creatures.

The nearness of God is my comfort and He truly piles gift upon gift onto my small existence.

Somehow I really matter to Him.

This is the greatest gift of all.

And I matter to Leanne...

Who else would put up a princess poster for me - haha?! 

Because I was given such a massive bouquet of Lillies for my birthday I brought some to share and Leanne was delighted.

In recent years, sadly as her marriage was unravelling,  Leanne and I were able to spend much

more time together.

We often say we are 'two peas in a pod' because we think so much alike and had a very similar upbringing. 

So even though she had a difficult, exhausting week she still wanted to bless me with a delicious salmon dinner and a sweet gift. (59 Gideon bibles given in my name to honour 59 years of my life!)

The evening sun warmed us as we gave thanks and ate.

A new season springs forth - yes, we perceive it.

He is doing new things and we will not dwell on the past.

We look ahead with confidence, abiding in the One who holds all things together.

We sat looking out over the city and prayed as the sky darkened and the city lights began to sparkle.

Flowers at the door!

A birthday in April is a remarkable thing.

At the risk of sounding full of myself I often say that "I feel like the whole world is celebrating my birth and existence" haha!

 I will say, however, that I am grateful that God chose to create me and to put me onto the earth in such a delightful season.

This cool April birthdate of mine started with a most delightful discovery of a box of flowers at the door.

All of my nieces banded together to send mom and I a combined birthday bouquet.

It was exquisite and the hubbub of receiving and opening it made the day feel ultra special right from the get go!

Then Sue & Barb showed up with a carload of excitement and the partying began in earnest!

For instance...

This decadent little piece of cake was decorated with edible gold and filled with all sorts of mocha and chocolate.

And the croissant had pistachio and cream filling.

Pretty much the best croissant I have ever tasted.

I could barely contain all the goodness, but I packed away as much as I could!

and there was even the promise of a delicious coffee in my future with this gift from Marcia. 

And sweet Hannah had made me tiramisu when she found out that was one of my favourite desserts.

We enjoyed that on Sunday evening together.

A pre-birthday celebration, because you've got to make the most of any reason there is to celebrate life! 

Longing Fulfilled

I didn't now how badly I was missing Daniel until he showed up for a quick real time visit.

An early birthday gift, snuck in before the restrictions got worse.

We've been talking on the phone more often than ever before, which has been wonderful, but there's nothing like a hug and being able to look into the eyes of your child.

I think I've shut down or buried some of my desires because so much of life is just what it is - not necessarily catering to one's intrinsic needs so we have protective mechanisms that we default to.

I also think I've learned to expect less and I try to be content with what is. 

And "what is" is pretty spectacular most of the time, considering how much of the rest of the world lives.

So when this longing was fulfilled I almost didn't know what to do with it!  

So I made lots of food. 

Because we always want to feed our kids - even when they are potentially better cooks than we are! 

I wanted to send Daniel home with lots of homemade soup that he could pull out of the freezer for those days when he comes home late and is tired.

We played games and had a delicious roast chicken dinner.

He went for a nice walk with his dad.

We weighed Winnie and it seems that her weight has finally stabilized at a full 15 pounds.

I had been hoping for a smaller dog but maybe it's better that she's a little bigger and sturdier so that I don't accidentally roll over her and break her! 

And we had lots of fun trying out my new wheelchair motorcycle attachment! 

I was overwhelmed with gratitude to see his beautiful face and to enjoy this gentle soul close up and personal. 

My firstborn.  

My son.

An undeserved, spectacular gift that feels more like a miracle as time goes on. 

He left on a rainy Sunday but my heart was full of sunshine. 

Pull off a Party Tout de Suite!

Vic & Marcia had just finished a lovely trip to Vancouver Island and were in Kelowna only for one evening before restrictions prohibiting inter-provincial non-essential visits were implemented.

They were hoping to stay in Kelowna to celebrate mom's and my birthday the following week but that was not going to happen.

So we partied on the one evening we had available together!

We're pretty flexible with partying - we can pull one off in no time!

Elsie had her kitchen decorated with balloons and streamers,

I showed up with enough Chinese food to feed a small army and Tante Hilda had a delicious plum crumble Platz in the freezer just waiting for a party to happen so we were set.

It was a treat to be together in "real time" rather than just on live video streaming, so we ate and prayed and sang and partied.

Such a gift to have family and to celebrate each other whenever the occasion arises!

God himself says in Zephaniah 3:17

“The LORD your God is in your midst, A Warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with joy; He will be quiet in His love [making no mention of your past sins], He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy."

 

Generations of Friendship

Joanna came to visit her mom and I got in on the action. 

Sweet little Makenna is making her mark on the world and in our hearts.

It's been beyond delightful to watch Joanna grow up and to have been invited into her life and now to see another generation emerge.

All this Kingdom glory wrapped in everyday goodness.

It's an amazing thing to have such incredible friends but then to expand that friendship to what were once wee babes in the arms of those friends... well, that's a huge gift. 

Josh is another one of these surprising and wonderful gifts.

The son of a very dear friend.

This amazing time was such a bonus.

It morphed from a car visit with communion to an amazing inside birthday brunch!

And there is the opposite spectrum of gray headed glory.

When we are privileged to enjoy friendship with the parents of our companions.

This pandemic shut down almost a year's worth of visits, but dear Ollie has been given a little more freedom from his care-home so we celebrated with music and dinner.

Mom suddenly stood up and asked Ollie for a hug.

She loves his gentle spirit and the rawness of need and affection was expressed with such simplicity and beauty.

Ollie is known for loving to give and receive hugs and mom somehow remembered that.

And what used to be a regular Saturday night visitor with the Gagenzeit nights, darling Anna now shows up on the rare occasion with her sweetheart Matthew when we have our much smaller gatherings. 

Knowing their history so well and watching them grow and bloom  while still remaining family friends is a gift beyond measure.

And last month my friend's son was in town and wanted to have coffee even though his mom is presently in New Zealand.

I don't take lightly this gift of generational friendship.

Prayerfully, carefully, gratefully administered. 

"They will be oaks of righteousness, 

the planting of the Lord 

for the display of His splendour..."

Tante Hilda turns 90!

 

With great fanfare, food and fun Tante Hilda turned 90!!

It was very providential that Vic had booked a trip long in advance that just conveniently landed very close to Tante Hilda's actual birthday because he hadn't been thinking of it at the time of booking!

Because...Vic is a very big deal in Tante Hilda's life.

So, whew!

Esther and John happily joined in the partying and dear Elsie decked her house out in a most marvellous fashion!

There were even two cakes to mark the occasion - the ice cream cake tasted delicious along-side Tante Hilda's own home-made one!

Marcia joined in the party via skype which was fun, although we sure wished she could be there in real life!

We have all learned to be extra flexible in this strange new pandemic world.

She is such a good sport to come to a party where she didn't even get a bite of cake!

Bye Bye Birdies

These delightful little companions have been making beautiful music in my home for quite a few years. (Along with a lot of squawking and not so beautiful noise...) Snowball has been here a number of years longer than Matzy, but they are best buddies and have created lovely songs and entertainment for me.  

They have little spats followed by a great deal of kissing and sharing of food along with other cute birdie antics. 

It was fun having them fly around the housing, surprising unsuspecting houseguests as they made close contact while zooming over their heads on the way to their favourite perches on the fireplace and in the office. 

For the most part I enjoyed the company and the cheerful chirping and lovely evening birdsongs, especially in the darker, quieter months of winter.

However.

There has been a general consensus over the past year or so that the noise created is annoying to many of my houseguests and it interferes with the increasing number of zoom and Skype calls held around the kitchen table. 

Some of my book-club ladies also found the sound distracting.

I must also admit that some of our dinner conversations around the table would be interrupted by increasingly loud chirps as our own conversations became more animated, and people with hearing aids found this especially difficult.

These complaints accompanied by my distraction with looking after a new puppy, Ladybug and Oma finally brought me to the decision to sell them to someone who would have more time to appreciate and look after them.

Frankly, I was tired of vacuuming up the seeds and feathers and it was feeling more burdensome to feed and clean their cage on a regular basis so I made the plunge and listed them in the local paper, praying that God would provide them with good owners. 

Lo and behold, about a week later I got a message from a lovely young lady named Abby who was wondering if my little cuties were still available?

OH YES, YES THEY WERE!!

The exchange was made in my back entry and this was the last picture I took of my sweet feathered friends. 

When Abby arrived, after introducing her to them I got emotional and couldn't even go outside to say goodbye as she carried the birds away.

I then proceeded to sit in the living room crying out my sad feelings.

I was a little bit surprised at the strong emotion this farewell provoked in me, but I entered into the grief and let it out. 

Who knew such tiny creatures could work their way so deeply into my heart and life?!

Abby was exceedingly kind upon seeing my distress and she sent me pictures of their new home and new feathered room-mates.

She texted me saying:

"I promise they are in good hands and shall be loved endlessly"

💕💕💕

What more could I ask for?

Here they are in their familiar cage in their new home with a few alterations made in their dwelling. 

God even looked after my tiny feathered friends... He did after all say: 

"Aren't two sparrows sold for only a penny?

But your Father knows when any one of them falls to the ground."

Matthew 10:29