Holy Love

Many waters cannot quench your love, rivers cannot overwhelm it

Oceans of fear cannot conceal your love for me

Many waters cannot quench your love, rivers cannot overwhelm it

Oceans of fear cannot conceal your love for me

Your love for me

Chorus:

Holy love, flow in me, fill me up like the deepest sea

Like a crashing wave pouring over me, holy love flow in me

Many sorrows cannot quench your love,

darkness cannot overwhelm it

I will not fear, your love is here to comfort me

Many sorrows cannot quench your love,

darkness cannot overwhelm it

I will not fear, your love is here to comfort me

You comfort me

When I find you I find healing

When I find you I find peace

And I know that there's no river so wide

No mountain so high, no ocean so deep

That you can't part the sea

Holy Love By: Andy Park

Happy Easter

Good Friday

He gave all that He had,

So we could have all that He is.

Thank you Lord

Blisters and a Raise!

Due to Holidays and snowdays, I have had a total of 5 days on the job since I started...three weeks ago...WOO HOO!

It's been an interesting adventure so far...some testing to see who I am, though nothing serious.

I have been given many names...all that have met my ears (so far) are just plain fun.

"Mrs. Marty"...(Marty is the original student supervisor)

"Lady Marty"

"Good Cop"...as in good cop bad cop

and the most popular:

"Chippy's Mom"...Mark's wife, Chippy's mom....soon it will be Kallie's owner....Someday, I will be just ME, sigh....

I have connected with some fun and some attention grabbing kids...most are great. (Quite entertaining to watch a senior chug Coffee in order to avoid having to take it to the cafeteria to drink...HIS idea NOT mine!)

In the midst of it all, I have developed numerous blisters from three hours of walking/standing each day...Principal wasn't kidding when he said I would need a "thick skin"!!!

The best part, yet pretty funny....I got a raise!!!!

I had to check out that this wasn't a mistake, but it seems I am already worth a couple more dollars an hour than I was originally told.

I am not complaining and figure it is just Rhonda's great favor at the school rubbing off on me already. God is good, though I have to giggle...or is it 'laugh all the way to the bank'?

It really DOES PAY to know people!!!!

Beauty in the Detours

This little phrase really caught my attention:

 "Happy is the person who can enjoy the scenery when they have to take a detour"

I never want to be so focused on destinations and end results that I miss the beauty of the path that takes me there.

This becomes more difficult when the path suddenly takes a sharp turn, an apparent 'detour'.

Is that unexpected twist in the road a true detour, or is there something very special along that route that has been divinely staged for my benefit?

I don't want to become so distracted by the twists and turns of life, that I miss the hidden treasures or the breathtaking beauty of the big picture.

Delighting in Him

Most of my life, I have been guilty of being obedient to God out of fear.

The "you better or else...." theology was imbedded in my heart from a very young age. God was someone to be obeyed from a place of seeing Him as the Big Guy with the stick, just waiting for me to mess up, so He could punish me.

I believe God honored much of that obedience because it was obedience....but I also know now that it broke His heart.

He desired for me to delight in my obedience to Him. 

 He wanted me to delight in just being with Him. 

He wanted me to understand His delight in me.

When I was finally able to embrace God and His love and goodness for me, it was then that everything changed.

I can truly say, He has brought me to the high places and continues to take me to new heights in every area.

It is so much greater to soar above it all with Him than to hide under a rock from Him.

No Deserts Here!

Although I will admit that the idea of laying on a beach right now is a very enticing fantasy, I have to say this quote really struck me in light of our fresh dusting of snow today.

Both in our physical world and in our personal lives, it is the (not often welcomed) rains and storms (snow), that when weathered well, create the BEAUTY and LIFE in and around us.

My Son is His Daddy's Boy!

When all 6 of us head to Karen and Jack's, the boys end up bunking up together.

Saturday morning we were privy to some funny stories as  a result of this.

My Jonathan told us the first one:

I woke up really cold last night, and thought, "oh well", and went back to sleep.

The second time I woke up really cold and realized my comforter was gone.

(Jonathan was sleeping on  a mattress on the floor by himself)

I thought Michael had taken my comforter and then realized that I had folded it very neatly and placed it under my head as an extra pillow...while I was asleep!

I now know Jonathan can be neat...how do I keep him asleep to do it though?

Later, My cousin Jonathan, came up and told us another story. It seems he was awakened in the night and thought Mark was in the room. My Jonathan was having a 2 sided conversation with his dad, complete with voice changes, that went something like this:

Jon as Mark: What does "old school" mean?

Jon( as himself): "Old School" is a literary term used by teenagers to describe...blah, blah blah....

Most of you have heard stories of Mark's sleep walking/talking escapades...seems the apple really doesn't fall very far from the tree....maybe I could get him to join Jonathan in the night time cleaning events!

Build A Bear

The Girls have saved money since Christmas so that they could go to Build A Bear and create their first furry friends. After we climbed up and out of the snow on Sunday we were able to go to Bayshore Shopping Centre and make some new friends .

This really was a fun experience, though the decision making process was by far the most difficult!

So many wonderful options.

Jianna made "Elizabeth" the pink and white bear and Maria created "Alana" the bright yellow Chick....so cute. 

This was definitely a highlight of the girls' trip!

March Break Snow

We had no idea when we ventured out for some family time over March Break that we would encounter...."Antartica-in-Aylmer".

I have a new appreciation for Belleville...these guys are so tired of snow...the running conversation has become..."Got any place to put your snow"..."yep in the garage!"

Road signs that haven't been dug out were right up to the street names.

I was feeling guilty about missing some work-outs on this little holiday, with all the shoveling and pushing vehicles out of snow banks...I think I am doing JUST FINE.

The houses in these pictures are all either 2 stories or raised bungalows, the vehicle in the driveway is a full size SUV.

The kids have had a blast though...tunnels, forts, climbing and digging.

Great Aunt Karen slid down snow banks with them and took them through waist deep snow  to play at the park.

That's Karen, Michael, Maria and Jianna sliding down the snow banks.

Trusting

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, 

Lean not on your own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge HIM 

and He will direct your paths.

Provers 3:5-6

This was probably the scripture I held to the tightest as a teenager. Whenever I was faced with uncertainty, I came back to a place of peace as I once again gave everything back to Him and trusted Him to direct my path.

Trusting God has taken me on quite an adventure.

There have been many surprises along the path, some difficult, many amazing....

Always, I have seen His faithfulness in directing my steps, which has enforced my position of trust when faced with uncertainty.

Today, I am still trusting.

Work and Wellness Update

I started out on a new path today...or may

be in a new direction of the same path.

Where it will lead is part of the unknown, but also part of the adventure.

I was originally scheduled to start at the High School yesterday, but bus cancellations changed that. So today I ventured into these uncharted waters, and guess what? The waves were not over my head after all!

There is a possibility that the tide is still out and I

 could yet be taken by surprise, but really the kids were for the most part welcoming and respectful. Reminders about things like: no hats, noise levels and taking care of their own garbage seemed to be the biggest challenges.

The kids seemed to respond well to being addressed respectfully, and no one seemed to be looking to cause trouble.

Of course they may have been sizing me up w

ith poker faces, I guess we shall see.

I'll be happy when I can remember the names of the kids that introduced themselves, which will take time...with tomorrow sizing up to be another snow day, it might take quite a bit of time.

I almost forgot!

My SWEET friend Rhonda (who it seems has a lot of pull at this school)...came up with the

 most flattering uniform for me to wear

it had a lovely big X on the back which I am sure the kids would have thought was a wonderful target...thankfully the principal did not take Rhonda's suggestion seriously!

After work, it was time to pick up Jianna and head off for the doctor.

Jianna is off the hook (temporarily), from being immunized due to a fever. This of course had her wishing to remain sick so as to permanently

 avoid the needle...But I out smarted her!

I promised her a treat on the day she gets her needle.

For a child that loves her food, a little pinch from a needle is nothing!

So, My turn.

The nurse took my blood pressure an it was something ridiculous again like  168/110...but she set the machine to do a 6 reading cycle and take the average. Even with the initial stupid reading, my average was NORMAL!!!!!

Praise the LORD!

The doctor was perfectly happy with the results, and all of my tests came back fine except that my thyroid test was a little off...I wasn't surprised, he will check that one in about 2 months, but is happy with everything, and told me to do what I am doing and not to worry about a few high readings especially if they were soon after a work out.

Yeah! God is victorious in all things.

The Lost Tooth

Time for another "Jianna Story"

....honestly, I don't favor my youngest child, it's just this age, coupled with her unique outlook on life, make for some very funny stories.

Although Mark and I have never been tremendous contributers to the Fairy Tale side of childhood, I have always tried to allow and encourage them to use their imaginations.

Jianna and one of her daycare friends, as toddlers,

used to play with imaginary friends in imaginary worlds together on a daily basis.

I only remember breaking up one real fight between these two, it was over, (of  all things), 

the color of the imaginary rocket they were flying in together!

My little man was determined the rocket was blue and Jianna was equally determined it was pink, (girl after my own heart!).

Because Jianna is usually this '16' year old in a 6 year old body....I love and even foster the times she shows that she really is just a little girl.

This week we had one of those moments with her.

On Dec. 26th Jianna discovered her first loose tooth...this is a child who had been wanting to lose her teeth for about 2 years prior to this date.

She was so hoping to lose that tooth before our New Years party.

She waited and waited rather impatiently as her set dates for tooth loss came and went.

Eventually, I think she gave up, as we stopped hearing about the wiggly tooth.

One day in the past week, she declared her loose tooth was really loose, and to Jianna's extreme joy the tooth came out soon after.

Jianna carried that tooth around in a kleenex as if it were a baby in a blanket.

She had completely embraced the idea of the "Tooth Fairy", from some books at school, and couldn't wait to see what her "littlest baby tooth" might bring her.

As she was preparing for bed, I asked her if she was going to put the tooth under her pillow.

"Not tonight, I want to spend a little more time with my littlest tooth"

I guess the past 5 years weren't quite long enough!

We were getting worried about Jianna losing her tooth, so Mark said, "Jianna, Wednesdays are special, you get more money on Wednesdays....don't you want to put your tooth under your pillow?"

"No, I'll do it NEXT Wednesday".

She was also quite concerned, and wanted to know if the tooth fairy would only take her tooth if it was under her pillow vs on my dresser....I think she was picturing a jewel thief rooting around the house looking for stray teeth!