My daughter and son in law will be over shortly, we are having pizza and munchies for dinner, and we always have cream puffs or mini eclairs for dessert. I am a weary momma today, the past few days have been a battle with anxiety and all the nastiness that entails. It really does wear me down and steals any glimmer of joy that manages to sneak in. I hate it! There is no rhyme nor reason for it , though lack of sleep, poor diet choices and not enough exercise makes it that much worse. I had a nice long walk with the dog this afternoon, and it is so incredibly cold today! But the sun was out and I could look down and see the lighthouse and the ocean waves crashing on the rocks. That always helps improve my outlook!
Happy New Year!
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Saturday, 28 December 2013
Is Christmas over already?
It just doesn't seem possible that Christmas is over already! I think most of the boxes have been opened and sorted through and the contents checked to make sure they all work and are what the recipients wanted. All the wrappings and paper have been burned in the fire pit, and I am putting away some of the decorations. This is the first year the tree has not lost so many needles that it has had to come down early, so that is nice! As much as I love Christmas, I like to get life back into a normal pace. I know I have mentioned this elsewhere in my blog, but I HATE New Years. I do not like New Year's Eve, I would rather go to bed early. And you know, I really don't know why. A combination of things really. I feel really unsettled throughout this whole week. Maybe it is just because we are all out of routine, or we have spent too much time running around. And have more running around to do to return things or use up gift cards. Perhaps it is that I eat absolutely terribly and feel dreadful! Lack of sleep, perhaps. Getting too busy for God, even though it is His Son's birthday, and not spending a quiet time with Him everyday makes everything a challenge!
But at any rate....I don't like New Years! I like to stay in and not be out with lots of people. How antisocial I must seem! I do, however, LOVE the Rose Bowl Parade, but I can't seem to find it on a good channel that is not all commercials. Most of the time, I just see the ads, and they cut off the parts of the parade! I hope I can find a better way of watching all the really amazing floats. My family are florists, and so watching all the cool things you can do with flowers is really amazing to me. I am sure all the float builders are scrambling right now to put the final touches on their creations!
Just some photos of our Christmas....we were blessed with about 10 cms of fluffy snow on Christmas Eve and it was just too beautiful to not go for a hike around our property while we waited for Robyn and her husband Robert to call for us to pick them up and come over.
But at any rate....I don't like New Years! I like to stay in and not be out with lots of people. How antisocial I must seem! I do, however, LOVE the Rose Bowl Parade, but I can't seem to find it on a good channel that is not all commercials. Most of the time, I just see the ads, and they cut off the parts of the parade! I hope I can find a better way of watching all the really amazing floats. My family are florists, and so watching all the cool things you can do with flowers is really amazing to me. I am sure all the float builders are scrambling right now to put the final touches on their creations!
Just some photos of our Christmas....we were blessed with about 10 cms of fluffy snow on Christmas Eve and it was just too beautiful to not go for a hike around our property while we waited for Robyn and her husband Robert to call for us to pick them up and come over.
Devin made this sea glass mirror for Robyn, out of some of the sea glass we have collected. He also made one for me!
A simple table centrepiece, a glass hurricane lamp, pillar candle, fresh cranberries and some cedar sprigs. I have two of these.
Mixie likes her Christmas gift!
A glimpse of a wintery sun, the first sun we had for a week!
Devin and I, and somewhere, the dog, trying to cram into this selfie!
Home sweet home!
A wintery walk down our trail, and the sunshine is brighter!
So beautiful this morning!
Cranberries waiting to be made into sauce, this is my favourite colour ever!
Yummy!
Robyn and Robert
Devin enjoyed Christmas, and got lots of Lego!
Jeremy patiently waiting to get a gift, we open them one at a time!
Robyn and Robert, Robyn is due in just over a month! How exciting!
I hope your Christmas was wonderful!
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
Merry Christmas!
I just finished making pumpkin pies and now time to tidy the house. Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas! It has been very dark and dreary here lately, but am so thankful for Jesus, God's Son, the Light of the world, the best gift that we could ever receive!
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
Sunday, 22 December 2013
Be careful little eyes what you see, and sometimes, you just need to plug your ears
My family and I have recently come out of a bad church situation. Recently meaning a year and a half ago, it is still fresh in my mind and heart about what has happened. I am not going to go into a lot of sordid details. But I am going to say a bit of what happened, in case it helps someone else.
We had attended this church for 3 years or so, things "seemed" okay. There were things that I didn't feel right about, and if you asked questions, you got very vague answers, which didn't really answer your questions, just left you confused. The website seemed to state it was a huge church, with lots of programs, for every age group. There was not big church, the plans were there for one, but it was not there yet. It was a tiny church. That made me feel weird.
Things at church seemed to become glaringly different over night almost. I was on the worship team, and we started singing weird highly repetitive songs. I grew more and more uncomfortable and sad when we sang them. It got to the point where I no longer could. I would literally drive home from church so depressed...not the way one should feel when singing praise and worship songs for 2 hours.
The senior pastor went away, and was gone from his church and family for over 3 years. You read that right. 3 years, and when asked what was going on, no one had an answer. He was not in the middle east, so he was not in physical danger. He was not in a country that was hugely dangerous. It was all a big secret.
Things really started to go off the rails. I came to find out, through some research I did, that the emails sent out to encourage us were actually copied word for word from very specific websites. Sermons were presented that were based on lies and one was actually copied, from a sermon on the internet, and the information in that sermon was in turn, found as an urban legend on Snopes!!
I don't even want to get into all the crazy stuff these people preached or told us. We stayed hoping that surely they would see they were going off the rails, and were wrong. They didn't see it then, and they don't see it now, and the people who still attend don't seem to see it, or are too scared to do anything about it.
And let me make this very clear.....Prosperity gospel, "name it and claim it" are VERY wrong and go against who Jesus is and certainly who our God is. It mocks our Lord and slaps Him in the face. Jesus was not a rich man, He did not have gobs of money at His disposal. He lived as a pauper, with His people, with the outcast and the downtrodden, and the cast offs of society. And God can absolutely do anything we ask, He will do so willingly. But we are NOT to tell Him how things are done. He knows what we need and if we so carelessly go to Him telling Him what we need, when and how, He is not going to answer unless it is His will.
And then there are the dreams. Church leadership having dreams of this or that, and all totally crazy and not at all reliable. And then leadership saying that some of these dreams were about OUR family, and how we are controlling. I do not know about you, but I do not relish having control of a church. My husband was an elder, and he brought this up before the pastor, and that pastor accused my husband of being controlling and other awful things. All my husband did was present him with the truth.
Now, you may be in a church like this. You may be in a church that tells you that you may not question leadership. That you do not know for yourself what God wants. That the leadership knows best. And they tell you that they have dreams and if you don't listen, don't have a pure heart, etc...that you will lose your salvation. That their church is the only "right" one, and that all others are wrong and going to hell. That if you dare leave that church, you will be lost forever.
Do you know what this is? This is a cult. This is not how God works. He gives us choice, He gives each of us a mind and a tongue and He gives each of us control. And most importantly, He is KIND and GENTLE and full of GRACE. He is not condemning, He is not loud, obnoxious, nor does He yell and scream at us. He is a loving Father, who does not make us run around barking like dogs and carrying on, flailing arms and legs everywhere, laughing hysterically.
If you are in a church like that...RUN and RUN for your LIFE. Get out, no matter what they say. We have been shunned, as have a couple of others who have questioned ( yes..including some of their very own family). God is faithful to rescue us and take us under His wing. And He is also faithful in that He will make right what has gone wrong.
It has been incredibly hurtful and lonely. We moved here from Ontario, with no family or even a single soul we knew here. And this church, as tiny as it was, became family. But I can no longer trust them. And am working at moving on.
It is so, SO important, if you are or have been in a situation like this, to find support. I did not feel like going to another church. I felt like giving up, and it was not God's fault that this happened! A good friend of mine encouraged me to come out to her church. Oh my, I was so scared. I was so scared to try and trust again. I had become accustomed to sermons which were over 2 hours long at times, and full of hatred and condemnation, yelling and screaming and fake tears. Imagine my surprise when I went to this much larger church, to have the sermon so quiet and so lovingly presented that it felt like it was whispered in my ear. And this pastor has taken us under his wing, encouraged questions and assured us that this other church was dangerous. Yes...dangerous. Honestly, for a long time, I thought it was me, despite 3 other pastors we went to for help telling us to get out of there and not look back. It is not easy to start over, but not going to church is not the answer. Getting into a healthy, nurturing church is going to help.
Let me make this clear, God can and will do anything. He doesn't need money to do it, He works in ways we don't even know. But when we try to jump headlong into things and leave Him out of it? Guess what? We are on our own. Oh, absolutely, He is there, He never leaves us, but He is not going to show up and bless our plans when we just go ahead and do it on our own. I know this from my own life and trying to do things on my own.
I know this is not a Christmassy post. But it has been my life for over a year. It has been difficult, but good in more ways than I can count. I have had to rediscover, for myself, who God is. And I sometimes fall flat in that department, and feel confused. He is not the God who was presented in our old church. I am so thankful for that. I am so thankful He is loving, nurturing and forgiving.
I am working on the forgiving part, I am not quite sure how I forgive, when I know these people continue to lie and deceive. But God is helping me to figure this out. I very much love our friends we have made from that church, and it hurts that we don't see them anymore, but we pray for them every single day. But our family has to be safe, we need to be whole and have a healthy relationship with God, and that comes first.
This is not an isolated case. There are many, MANY people being deceived RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND. And it is not just in church. It is also through popular Christian speakers, it is through mega church movements that welcome you in, but will spit you out if you don't bow to their every wish. The other day, we went to buy a Bible for our middle son, and the salesperson recommended a new Bible called "The Voice". We read a few passages we knew well, and it seemed great. We got home, I did some more research, and was shocked at what this Bible was actually like. I did have that gnawing feeling while we were in the store considering it, that it was a bad idea. I should have listened to it. The Voice takes great liberties in who God is and how people see Him. It went right back the very next morning.
Keep your eyes open....be careful who you listen to ( even those speakers who have good things to say and great advice.) Ask questions. If the answers do not meet up with Scripture, ask God for help and if things do not line up...walk away. A relationship with God is the most important thing, it is priceless. And it is a gift given to us by God so many years ago, when He sent His Son to us as a tiny baby. A baby who grew up to love, heal, and ultimately die to save us, because He loves us so much. That is a gift no one, no matter how many threats, lies, guilt trips or manipulative people can ever take away from us.
We had attended this church for 3 years or so, things "seemed" okay. There were things that I didn't feel right about, and if you asked questions, you got very vague answers, which didn't really answer your questions, just left you confused. The website seemed to state it was a huge church, with lots of programs, for every age group. There was not big church, the plans were there for one, but it was not there yet. It was a tiny church. That made me feel weird.
Things at church seemed to become glaringly different over night almost. I was on the worship team, and we started singing weird highly repetitive songs. I grew more and more uncomfortable and sad when we sang them. It got to the point where I no longer could. I would literally drive home from church so depressed...not the way one should feel when singing praise and worship songs for 2 hours.
The senior pastor went away, and was gone from his church and family for over 3 years. You read that right. 3 years, and when asked what was going on, no one had an answer. He was not in the middle east, so he was not in physical danger. He was not in a country that was hugely dangerous. It was all a big secret.
Things really started to go off the rails. I came to find out, through some research I did, that the emails sent out to encourage us were actually copied word for word from very specific websites. Sermons were presented that were based on lies and one was actually copied, from a sermon on the internet, and the information in that sermon was in turn, found as an urban legend on Snopes!!
I don't even want to get into all the crazy stuff these people preached or told us. We stayed hoping that surely they would see they were going off the rails, and were wrong. They didn't see it then, and they don't see it now, and the people who still attend don't seem to see it, or are too scared to do anything about it.
And let me make this very clear.....Prosperity gospel, "name it and claim it" are VERY wrong and go against who Jesus is and certainly who our God is. It mocks our Lord and slaps Him in the face. Jesus was not a rich man, He did not have gobs of money at His disposal. He lived as a pauper, with His people, with the outcast and the downtrodden, and the cast offs of society. And God can absolutely do anything we ask, He will do so willingly. But we are NOT to tell Him how things are done. He knows what we need and if we so carelessly go to Him telling Him what we need, when and how, He is not going to answer unless it is His will.
And then there are the dreams. Church leadership having dreams of this or that, and all totally crazy and not at all reliable. And then leadership saying that some of these dreams were about OUR family, and how we are controlling. I do not know about you, but I do not relish having control of a church. My husband was an elder, and he brought this up before the pastor, and that pastor accused my husband of being controlling and other awful things. All my husband did was present him with the truth.
Now, you may be in a church like this. You may be in a church that tells you that you may not question leadership. That you do not know for yourself what God wants. That the leadership knows best. And they tell you that they have dreams and if you don't listen, don't have a pure heart, etc...that you will lose your salvation. That their church is the only "right" one, and that all others are wrong and going to hell. That if you dare leave that church, you will be lost forever.
Do you know what this is? This is a cult. This is not how God works. He gives us choice, He gives each of us a mind and a tongue and He gives each of us control. And most importantly, He is KIND and GENTLE and full of GRACE. He is not condemning, He is not loud, obnoxious, nor does He yell and scream at us. He is a loving Father, who does not make us run around barking like dogs and carrying on, flailing arms and legs everywhere, laughing hysterically.
If you are in a church like that...RUN and RUN for your LIFE. Get out, no matter what they say. We have been shunned, as have a couple of others who have questioned ( yes..including some of their very own family). God is faithful to rescue us and take us under His wing. And He is also faithful in that He will make right what has gone wrong.
It has been incredibly hurtful and lonely. We moved here from Ontario, with no family or even a single soul we knew here. And this church, as tiny as it was, became family. But I can no longer trust them. And am working at moving on.
It is so, SO important, if you are or have been in a situation like this, to find support. I did not feel like going to another church. I felt like giving up, and it was not God's fault that this happened! A good friend of mine encouraged me to come out to her church. Oh my, I was so scared. I was so scared to try and trust again. I had become accustomed to sermons which were over 2 hours long at times, and full of hatred and condemnation, yelling and screaming and fake tears. Imagine my surprise when I went to this much larger church, to have the sermon so quiet and so lovingly presented that it felt like it was whispered in my ear. And this pastor has taken us under his wing, encouraged questions and assured us that this other church was dangerous. Yes...dangerous. Honestly, for a long time, I thought it was me, despite 3 other pastors we went to for help telling us to get out of there and not look back. It is not easy to start over, but not going to church is not the answer. Getting into a healthy, nurturing church is going to help.
Let me make this clear, God can and will do anything. He doesn't need money to do it, He works in ways we don't even know. But when we try to jump headlong into things and leave Him out of it? Guess what? We are on our own. Oh, absolutely, He is there, He never leaves us, but He is not going to show up and bless our plans when we just go ahead and do it on our own. I know this from my own life and trying to do things on my own.
I know this is not a Christmassy post. But it has been my life for over a year. It has been difficult, but good in more ways than I can count. I have had to rediscover, for myself, who God is. And I sometimes fall flat in that department, and feel confused. He is not the God who was presented in our old church. I am so thankful for that. I am so thankful He is loving, nurturing and forgiving.
I am working on the forgiving part, I am not quite sure how I forgive, when I know these people continue to lie and deceive. But God is helping me to figure this out. I very much love our friends we have made from that church, and it hurts that we don't see them anymore, but we pray for them every single day. But our family has to be safe, we need to be whole and have a healthy relationship with God, and that comes first.
This is not an isolated case. There are many, MANY people being deceived RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND. And it is not just in church. It is also through popular Christian speakers, it is through mega church movements that welcome you in, but will spit you out if you don't bow to their every wish. The other day, we went to buy a Bible for our middle son, and the salesperson recommended a new Bible called "The Voice". We read a few passages we knew well, and it seemed great. We got home, I did some more research, and was shocked at what this Bible was actually like. I did have that gnawing feeling while we were in the store considering it, that it was a bad idea. I should have listened to it. The Voice takes great liberties in who God is and how people see Him. It went right back the very next morning.
Keep your eyes open....be careful who you listen to ( even those speakers who have good things to say and great advice.) Ask questions. If the answers do not meet up with Scripture, ask God for help and if things do not line up...walk away. A relationship with God is the most important thing, it is priceless. And it is a gift given to us by God so many years ago, when He sent His Son to us as a tiny baby. A baby who grew up to love, heal, and ultimately die to save us, because He loves us so much. That is a gift no one, no matter how many threats, lies, guilt trips or manipulative people can ever take away from us.
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Lights, trees, fishing lures and gingerbread
Our week or so in pictures and a few words!
The stockings were hung from the banister with care, in hopes that our dog keeps her nose out of there!
I love the Grinch!! Poor misunderstood guy!
I saw this idea on Pinterest ( I have no clue where! Sorry, if I find it I will post it!) I have several old insulators. I put battery operated candle lights under them, they really add a nice glow!
Insulators on the ledge behind the sofa. It seems like someone has been jumping on the sofa again!
I found this amazing silicone gingerbread house mold at the dollar store! It works great for making a gingerbread house and has an amazing recipe with it. My house still smells like gingerbread!
Fresh out of the oven, now will it come out without breaking??
Whew!! YES!
I was the first person to steal candy off Jeremy's house, I can't resist the gumballs!
Devin loved making his house, it was wonderful watching them make their own creations! I made a kit for Robyn too, with the un built house, an icing pack and candy, and she built her own.
Jeremy's house, heavy on the Smarties!
Devin's house.
Here is a melting snowman.
Had an idea.....for a different tree.....
With a sea star found by us at the beach.....
And an antique minnow bucket, and some old bobbers. A sting of battery operated lights completes it, and I think it is really fun!
My poor old bald elf! I have had him for ages, long before Elf on the Shelf became popular! But he has lost his hat, poor guy!
Devin's sled
Snow!! And more to come as a Nor'Easter approaches!
Hope you are all well! If you want to have some fun...make a gingerbread house, turn on some carols, and enjoy the moments with your family. I would love to see your gingerbread houses!
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
Ahhh!! All spiffied up again!!
My daughter is a genius, she took pity on me and updated the look of my blog!! I just love it hon, thanks! I love sea glass and this is one of my favourite photos on my header. Sea glass marbles especially are very rare and a treasure for sure! Now to get some more posts up! Thanks Robyn!
Sunday, 8 December 2013
This is why you don't try to change your blog at midnight
Oh good heavens!! What a mess!!!!!!!!! Bear with me while I figure out what on earth I am doing, I have not changed my blog in like, forever and now I know why! My brain is not processing this stuff!
Friday, 6 December 2013
Grateful Swap
Right now I would be grateful for the Grateful Swap badge to post here, but this new notebook seems to make everything difficult!
I was fortunate enough to get in on the fun of the latest swap organized by sisters Monica at the Homespun Heart, and Carrie at With All That I've Been Given. The theme of the swap this time was "GRATEFUL", and I have been very grateful to be paired with Valerie at A Meadowlark's Nest. She and I , it turns out, have quite a lot in common, so it has been so nice getting to know her over the past few weeks.
She has had sick kids and a busy schedule, so she received my box first, and as of writing this, I am not sure she has opened it. She was going to wait for me to get my box. I assumed she had by today....so I already opened mine!
When I snipped down to the local fishing village to mail mine, I kept thinking I was forgetting something. I was quite puzzled, as when I got home, I knew it was all in the box since there were no stragglers left over. It then dawned on me that I totally forgot to take photos of what I sent to Valerie!!!! Since I am not sure she has opened it, you will have to go check out her blog to see what I sent!
I love what she sent me, it was such a joy to open as it has been such gloomy weather lately! Thank you so much, Val!! And I am so glad to have another wonderful friendship started through Monica and Carrie's swaps! ( Many thanks, Monica and Carrie, and especially to you Valerie!) Here is what she sent me....
I was fortunate enough to get in on the fun of the latest swap organized by sisters Monica at the Homespun Heart, and Carrie at With All That I've Been Given. The theme of the swap this time was "GRATEFUL", and I have been very grateful to be paired with Valerie at A Meadowlark's Nest. She and I , it turns out, have quite a lot in common, so it has been so nice getting to know her over the past few weeks.
She has had sick kids and a busy schedule, so she received my box first, and as of writing this, I am not sure she has opened it. She was going to wait for me to get my box. I assumed she had by today....so I already opened mine!
When I snipped down to the local fishing village to mail mine, I kept thinking I was forgetting something. I was quite puzzled, as when I got home, I knew it was all in the box since there were no stragglers left over. It then dawned on me that I totally forgot to take photos of what I sent to Valerie!!!! Since I am not sure she has opened it, you will have to go check out her blog to see what I sent!
I love what she sent me, it was such a joy to open as it has been such gloomy weather lately! Thank you so much, Val!! And I am so glad to have another wonderful friendship started through Monica and Carrie's swaps! ( Many thanks, Monica and Carrie, and especially to you Valerie!) Here is what she sent me....
Squeeee!!! Here it is!!!!!!!
Valerie is in Kansas, and she enclosed these really cool Wizard of Oz stickers. I love the Wizard of Oz....aside from the flying monkeys, oh those are so creepy!!
She sent me the stickers, a doily, a chocolate bar, a sunflower bookmark ( which brightened up this foggy day!), a jar of barbecue sauce which we can't wait to try, a Country Sampler magazine ( Christmas edition!!!!! - love this magazine!) and a button jar! I LOVE to collect buttons and was so excited to get a sweet little jar full of some really cool buttons!! It is sitting on a primitive bowl rack I made.
Ohhh, treasure!!!!
Yum!
Love!! ( Oh it would be amazing to have my amazing husband come home and tell me I could buy one of everything in this magazine! Well, you can always dream, right?? )
Sunshine!
Can't wait to pop around and see what others got!
Thursday, 5 December 2013
It would begin to look a lot like Christmas if there was snow!
I got around to doing some outdoor Christmas decorating this week, before we got nailed with another storm ( and had 6 trees blow down by our river). Oh how I miss pine trees around here, we have a forest full of balsam fir and hemlock, so I do use that to decorate with and have even cut some down to use as trees in my home, though they are pretty wonky trees! But pine just makes it smell so nice and fills in so wonderfully. This year I stole the pine from Robyn and Robert's backyard...YES!!
Materials to work with, minus the winterberries, which we collected later.
We bought this antique sled at a yard sale this fall for $5.00! So excited!!
Stuffing the containers, I use old florist buckets ( my sister used them at Robyn's wedding, we are florists- she currently runs the family business, I am working on remembering how to do be a florist!)
I also found these old wooden skiis at a yard sale, and decided to wedge them in the front porch and made a little swag for them. This is our front door.
The finished milk jug, sled and old coffee pot, the photo is terrible but it was starting to rain. This is at the side door, the entrance we use the most.
Winterberries. I love them!!
We found this cart used at some point in time at Pier 21 in Halifax, and I was hoping to make it into a table but it is too short, and is now sunk into our lawn! It is a nice place to sit in the summer. I just need bows for the milk cans.
Jeremy puts up the lights each year, he enjoys it! He is inspired by the Griswold's, we have a long way to go!
Even the birds have been decorating!
My knight in shining tinfoil cutting winterberries for me, in the dark on a Sunday night. I just love him! He had to walk through a swamp to do this!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)