Author Archives: Heather

Seeing the sights

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As we have my friend A from Australia visiting for two weeks we have been out and about a bit more than usual. Yesterday we visited Perth, a historic town an hour out of Ottawa. I think the antique shop below was the pick of the day as far as keeping everyone interested was concerned. As you can see there is something for everyone.
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We wandered up and down the main street, entering the shops that appealed to us and stopping for coffee when we needed a rest.

img_2346crop.jpgToday the weather was perfect for looking around downtown so we headed to the Peace Tower first. The 360° view was excellent. We visited the Memorial Chamber where all the Books of Remembrance are kept containing the names of Canadians who have died in military service in past and present conflicts. Next stop was the Byward Market where we stocked up on maple sugar candy, cheeses and postcards as well as eating an excellent lunch. Having heard that a miniatures shop existed in the market we set out to find it only to be told that it had closed. Remembering that A was interested in visiting my favourite clothing store we headed to Bank St for a little more strolling before going home.

Beyond all measure

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HOW DEEP THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR US,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss –
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life –
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart –
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Stuart Townend.
Copyright © 1995 Thankyou Music

Frindle

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After reading Jennifer’s recommendation I decided to reserve this one at the library. I collected it today and read it in an hour before turning it over to my ten-year-old. It is about a fifth grade boy who is not afraid to push the limits; he is not out to cause trouble, he just wants to see what will happen. Always ready with a clever question just before the homework assignment is given out, Arnold finds his delay tactic backfires when his teacher asks him to research the answer to his own question. His research gets him thinking about words, how they came to be and why.

When we were studying Romeo and Juliet with the Group of Four, we looked at Juliet’s speculation that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. The activity that followed was very amusing as the children created small skits where familiar words were replaced by other words. One group replaced the names for things found in an average Sunday morning church service. The strawberries were welcomed and the dish soap led in prayer. I guess you had to be there but it was quite funny.

In Frindle Arnold replaces the word ‘pen’ with the word ‘frindle’, First a few of his friends play along, eventually most of the school is participating and it looks like things might be getting out of hand. A battle ensues with the students up against the teacher and principal. His teacher appears all along to be his staunchest opponent, but in his mother he finds an unexpected ally. The media picks it up and Arnold becomes something of a celebrity.

Frindle is an amusing and thought provoking book, which would be great to read aloud to boys and girls. I enjoyed reading a book where the dictionary takes centre stage, vocabulary is played with and etymology is entertaining. After finishing it A10 also gave it the thumbs up. She liked the fact that there was trouble and a mean teacher. When she mentioned the teacher, I asked,”Did you really think she was mean?”

To which L12 replied,” She is looking at it from the kid’s perspective, while you are seeing it from the teacher’s.” She’s quite right, but either way it is worth reading.

Too many cooks?

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Group of Four was more like Group of Two and a half today. One of our families has had been battling sickness for a month and another family has just succumbed. The healthy remainder gathered today to make some meals for the not so healthy. There were not too many cooks; we had just the right number to create soup, lasagne, apple crisp and choc-chip cookies.
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Apparently three colours of noodles result in Neopolitan Lasagne.
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Coloured eggs the hens provided for Easter
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Mmmmmm
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Plumbing at knife point

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When L12 asked me what time the plumber said he would come I answered, “Between 2 and 3pm, but you have to understand that doesn’t mean he will be here between 2 and 3 pm.” I have a formula for working out what time he will arrive and I outlined it to L12 yesterday. If they say they will come between 2 and 3 you can then expect a phone call around 3 to tell you that they are still at their previous job and will be there soon. After half an hour goes by you might get another phone call letting you know they are five minutes away. Half an hour after that they will be at your door. I got the phone call today at 3:30 and they were here around 4, just when I was expecting them.

As the plumber got started in the kitchen, I began preparing dinner. I needed a knife so I took one from the knife block then stood there with it in my hand while I answered some of his questions and watched what he was doing. He finally stopped what he was doing and said, ” Did you know you’re standing there with a knife in your hand? It’s making me a little uneasy.” I was a tad embarrassed, this is a bad habit of mine to stand and talk to people while I’m cooking, all the while waving a knife in their direction.

He was almost finished when he said, “You haven’t told me yet how much I look like Adam Sandler .” I knew he looked familiar but I hadn’t been able to put my finger on why. But he was right he looked very much like Adam Sandler and was so used to being told so, that I was an oddity for not mentioning it. We did end up having the same conversation that I seem to have with anyone who comes to work on our house. Whether it is a plumber, an electrician or whoever they always end up saying something along the lines of, ” I’ve never seen anything quite like this, I can’t see why anyone would assemble it this way.” There are tell tale signs of home handy man all over the place.

So a few hours later the faucets and pipes are fixed, I have a plumber who looks like Adam Sandler and there is probably a note next to my name on his copy of the invoice reminding him to never come alone to this address.

The gift of a day

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I was intending to end my gift of a day by telling you what I did with it. But I am only getting around to it now, four days later. When I look back on how I had spent my hours alone, there’s nothing out of the ordinary, but it was satisfying all the same. I am very grateful to my thoughtful friend.

To have uninterrupted, open ended time to read my bible and pray was appreciated and valuable. I try to begin every day listening, reading and talking to the Lord but it is a struggle to get going some days and an effort to keep my mind from wandering to the tasks ahead of me that day. It is often the listening to the Lord which I neglect; to read his word and really meditate takes time. My prayers are full of requests, praises and thanks, but I don’t always wait on him to hear his prompting. I was able to take extra time on my gift of a day and was encouraged by this passage from the Message.

Your salvation requires you to turn back to me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.
Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on me–
The very thing you’ve been unwilling to do.
…But God’s not finished. He’s waiting around to be gracious to you.
He’s gathering strength to show mercy to you.
God takes the time to do everything right– everything.
Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones.

I don’t often read from the Message, I use the ESV, but given the extra time I had, I opened it up. The passage is from Isaiah 30 and the message is clear in either version. I need to have complete dependence on God. He takes the time to do everything right. It was good to focus on and to have that in mind as I prayed for each member of my family.

I spent a little time wandering around the internet, catching up on links and recommendations but then headed out to wander around second hand furniture shops, both the more expensive antique shops and the “that’s more like it” consignment shops. I joined Andrew and his friends for lunch at the chip van and then did a little more gazing at furniture. I was looking for a couple of shelves, one for the music books in the family room, the other for craft supplies in the basement. Of course the one for music needs to be the right colour, fit in the space, look good next to the piano. There were not as many pre-requisites for the craft shelf and so I managed to find it, at a bargain price too.

While strolling down Bank Street I wandered into my favourite clothing store, which I wasn’t planning to do, started looking at spring dresses, which I wasn’t going to do, chose a few to try on, which there was no point in doing, but hey, it was my day wasn’t it?  I found a lovely dress, right size and right colour and it was reversible.  Reversible!  As I said to Andrew later it was two dresses for the price of … ah, two dresses. That’s the problem at this store, I am only willing to spend when things are at least half price, or even better, when they have made their way to a consignment shop.

I finished the afternoon happily pottering at home, Andrew and I ate out and then we picked up the children. As is often the case when they are at my friend’s home we were treated to a choreographed dance/gymnastics number when we arrived. Of course we had to try out the new formula one racing game before we left.

When I woke up on Saturday I was back in the real world.

The gifts of friends

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The postman delivered a couple of gifts from friends lately. Last week we received a box of cocoa sent by a friend on the other side of the world who read of our difficulty in finding some to make chocolate icing, thank you. Yesterday, our former neighbour, who now lives on the other side of the country sent two pages of paper dolls to cut out. The dolls are from eight different countries and have two national costumes each from different time periods. A10 has already cut out quite a few and mounted them on cardboard. Thank you for continuing to think of us just as you did when we were right next door, we miss you.

In a week’s time a friend arrives from the other side of the world to stay for as long as we can keep her here. She and I have known each other since 1975, I can’t wait.

Today I am enjoying a birthday gift from a friend. I know my birthday is long gone, but the gift is today. The gift of a day. She said, “I have a gift for you that I have quite a bit of, but you do not. I will have your children for a day and you can spend the day however you wish.” Yesterday L12 mentioned that she thought her day (today) sounded more appealing than mine. After all, she would be spending the whole day with friends (and math books and violin) whereas I would be spending it alone. B6 was also a little surprised that I wanted to be by myself all day! But I think it is a wonderful gift and now I just need to narrow down the hundreds of possibilities into a few realistic ones and get going.

Continuing “Round the World”

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As I had hoped B6 has a new enthusiasm for school since he became a world traveller. He has now visited Nunavut, Iceland, Scotland and is in the Netherlands as I write. Along side the Inuksuk on the window ledge is a Loch Ness monster. While he was in Scotland the girls and I were called in to participate in a Highland Games event, the Tug o’ War. Unfortunately B6 and I lost to the girls, twice! We tried to have a mini Caber Toss in the backyard but the wee caber tosser got dirt in his eyes and became quite distressed so the event was cancelled. A happier event by far was our lunch today, “Dutch Eggs and Cheese” which he prepared himself.

A pleasant part of our journey  is reading him the books I have gathered, both fiction and non-fiction. In Iceland we read the ridiculous tale The Backward Brothers see the Light which B6 found quite amusing. While in the Netherlands I read Boxes For Katje to him and we discussed the desperate need of the Dutch people after WWII. The book is based on the author’s mother’s experience and I thoroughly enjoyed both the story and illustrations. Another war story from Holland is The Greatest Skating Race which we began tonight.

End of the Spear

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End of the Spear by Steve Saint provided new insights after our unit on Eco-tourism in Ecuador. The book barely mentions eco-tourism but Steve deals with more significant survival issues for the tribe of people a little deeper into the rainforest than those in our simulation game. Our game was based on the Quechua people, Steve’s lifetime association is with the Waodani people.

Years ago I read Shadow of the Almighty and Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot. She tells both the story of her husband’s life and the story of five missionaries, her husband among them, who were murdered by Waodani people (aka “Aucas”) in 1956. Steve Saint’s father was also one of those five missionaries. Like Elisabeth Elliot, Steve’s mother did not leave Ecuador after the death of her husband but stayed on and continued to work for the mission organisation. Steve’s aunt lived with the Waodani people and grew to love and be loved by them.

End of the Spear begins with Steve attending to the burial of his Aunt in the village where she had lived with the Waodani. He had also lived there with her, for some time as a young boy. I found it a little hard to follow initially as the story flips back and forth from Steve’s childhood time with the Waodani to his current life in the US and touches on other events in between. The further in I got the more the focus narrowed in on two issues. Steve was trying to piece together all he could about the events surrounding his father’s death. He was also trying to assess if and how he could help the Waodani

“…learn the skills and develop the economy necessary to take care of their own needs…”

In order to assist the Waodoni, Steve and his family lived with them for 18 months. An airstrip was built by Steve and local villagers. Steve and his sons then built a house for the family. The majority of his time was spent flying between villages each day.

My average flight was about eight minutes long. But to travel the equivalent amount I had that day with old BTS (his plane) would have taken two hours on the trail for every minute in the air. It would have taken about three or four Waodoni to carry the cargo I had delivered.

Naturally there were decisions that had to be made about which calls for help he would attend. Steve insisted that the Waodoni make these decisions and give him instructions. In a culture without a leadership structure this took some getting used to. When Steve’s time in Ecuador was drawing to a close the Waodoni realised that they wanted to not only continue to have access to a plane, but also be the owners and operators. Steve’s desire to help the Waodoni equip themselves motivated him to establish I-TEC on his return to the US.

It was intriguing to read of Steve’s experiences, hear his descriptions of the Waodoni’s lifestyle and the change in the lives of many who heard the gospel from Steve’s Aunt. The man who killed Steve’s father has become one of Steve’s dearest friends and is a surrogate grandfather to his children. Because such love exists between them they were finally able to discuss the events on Palm Beach where Steve’s dad was speared. Before becoming God followers the Waodoni would have assumed that Steve would make contact with them only so that he could have revenge for his father’s death.

The story does not end when Steve and his family return the US. Some of his Waodoni friends come to Florida and their reactions to all they see are both amusing and sobering. Steve continues to work with his friends to help indigenous tribes around the world learn new skills and obtain equipment. He also continues to tell the story his father set out to tell so many years ago. The story of salvation by the grace of God.