Joyful Journey

At this point in my life, I've been to many funerals.  There have been some where a young child died before they  had a chance to really live.  Some who have died leaving young families behind.  Some which were unexpected and some which I knew  were coming. Some for which they had no hope of an eternal reward. And, like the one I attended this past weekend, some who I know I will see them again and for whom their funeral was a time to celebrate a life lived well.  My Uncle Andy was my mom's oldest brother.  He and his wife June and children lived about 45 minutes from our home and so we spent quite a bit of time together.  I don't remember a holiday as a child when, if we weren't with Stoltzfus relatives, we weren't either at their house, they were at ours, or we were all at Aunt Cleone & Uncle Merritt's home.  It was always great fun to be able to go to their farm, the "home" farm where my Mom lived from age 13 until she left home....

I so enjoy looking back and seeing how seemingly random events in my life join together to bring about an interesting result. A few weeks ago I finished reading a book entitled, A Hole in Our Gospel written by the president of World Vision. Basically the book was calling us to re-examine if we are doing enough to meet the needs of those who live life  without . Withou t food, without water, without the basics of life. As a part of the book, he challenged the reader to consider taking things that you already enjoy doing and do those things to assist those who are without . And even better, get others to join you in the process. I was finishing this book the same time that I had the privilege of working with a group of ladies in preparing a wedding rehearsal dinner for a family that we all love and appreciated. We spent two days cutting, chopping, and preparing food together. It was work, of course, but we had a wonderful time sharing together as we worked. I realized ho...

The news is filled these days with talk of immigration laws and Arizona. Our time in Switzerland has given me a bit of perspective of what it's like to live in a country that is not your own. Before we could move to Switzerland, Bob had to be issued a permit by Switzerland, verifying the need for a non-Swiss to fill this position. It was only after this permit was issued that we were allowed to officially rent an apartment and start the process to obtain a visa. As part of the visa process, we were required to provide documentation to prove that we had the intent of returning to the states as well as sufficient funds to provide for return tickets!! Our landlady had to inform the gemeindehaus (local government office) that we had rented the apartment, and when we were moving in. We were given 10 days from the date of our arrival to register with the town. If we did not register within that time frame, the Swiss were free to immediately deport us, no questions asked. They...

My husband remarked the other day that he used to think I was a giving person. Oh, spear through the heart. I do desire to be one who shares freely, who gives lavishly, who holds all that has been given to me loosely. Used to be giving. That was hard to hear. Of course, context here is important. He made this comment while he was in the process of stealing a large swig of water out of my cold water bottle, after his had gotten warm. In my defense, I was protesting, not sharing the of the water, but the amount he was confiscating on that hot, summer day. However, this has become a recurring theme for the last two days. He was again discussing my inability to share, specifically living space. I have stated that there is absolutely no possible way that I am willing to share even one iota of space with this one. He countered that I'm being a bit greedy, quite a bit selfish. This one is only asking for a small space. He will eat very little. No. I'm holding my ground on...

It did make for a good laugh in the grocery store at least. That was a nice plus since grocery shopping is not one of my favorite tasks. I was buying chicken to barbecue for this weekend and was excited to see that some of the packages of chicken that I was picking up had a $1 off coupon. Since I would be feeding around 10 this weekend, it's always nice to have those unexpected coupons. However, upon closer inspection I realized that it was not off the chicken itself, but a $1 off a package of a well-known brand of processed cheese product. It just struck me as ironic that anyone who was going to the expense of purchasing "organic, no hormones or antibiotics given to the animal, free range " chicken would then turn around and purchase a highly processed cheese "product." I don't know; am I missing something here?

I'm almost a month old now and I've learned quite a few things in life already. Grandparents love you like parents do, they are just older. When you visit your grandparents, they never let you sleep in your car seat. The minute you are carried in the door, they are asking if it's okay to take you out and hold you. They want to hold you a lot! Grandpas think they need to hold you all the time, except when you fill your diaper. Grandma says "with privilege comes responsibility," but I think there is a Grandpa exception clause that I haven't heard yet. They love it when you smile. I hear people say it's just gas, but it sure makes everyone around me happy and starts those camera clicking sounds whenever I do. But if you're sleepy, grandparents don't seem to mind that either. They make a comfy bed. When you're awake, grandparents like to talk to you. They think it's very important that we know the sound of their voices. ...

If you were in the stores last week or watched TV, you might think that love equals roses, heart-shaped diamond jewelry, perfume, chocolate, a sentimental card or maybe personalized Teddy Bears. All those things can be expressions of love; I love to receive any of those. Well, not the Teddy Bear, but any of the others are enjoyed. However, I think love could be better represented by a clock. Love often shows by our investment of time. When we love someone or something we want to spend time with them. We want to spend time with family and friends that we love. If we love to exercise, there is always time in the day to fit it in. If we love to cook, we will frequently be in the kitchen. If we love hockey, we will be at the rink. If we love to play the piano, we will be at the keyboard when we have free time. A love of reading will often result in finding us with a book. Love equals time. We have a new family member to love this month and time is definitely high on his priority li...