A Presentation I Did

On December 5, the Prayer Sisters group at our congregation held our brunch, which is also a time to bring a gift for your Prayer Sister to let her know who was praying for her specifically the past year. The organizer also asked myself and another woman to give a little presentation. Following is my presentation for that brunch.

Warning: Long Post

Using What God Gave You

Good morning! I was asked to speak this morning on the topic of “Using What God Gave You”, but before I get to the core of that topic, I would like to tell you a story about two women.
The first woman, let’s call her Woman A, was a very busy person indeed. She had raised five children, had several grandchildren, was very involved with her local church, and with a variety of people whom she knew from the community and other locations. She had done a lot of sewing in her years, as well as nurturing a very productive garden – and the canning and preserving work that comes at autumn with that -, and taught Sunday School classes for many, many years. She communicated well with others, and kept the lines of communication open with all of her children, grandchildren, other family members, and friends. She was known for her hospitality, her generosity, her gentle spirit, and her love and faith in God.
The second woman, okay – let’s call her Woman B, was a very busy person indeed. She had raised five children, had a few grandchildren, was very involved with her local church, and with a variety of people and organizations in her local community and from other locations. She did a lot of sewing, crocheting, knitting, and other crafts in her years, as well as nurturing a respectably productive garden – and the canning and preserving that comes at autumn with that -, and taught Sunday School classes for years. She also kept the Sunday School supplies well organized, communicated with her children and grandchildren regularly, as well as other family members, friends, and those in the organizations and groups she was a part of. She was well known for her hospitality, her ability to multitask and stay organized and “in the know” about what needed to be done and how things were being done, her gentle spirit, and her love and faith in God.
As you can easily tell, these two women have a lot in common, but they also have their own unique personality and abilities. Oh!! I guess I did get to the core of the topic right at the start!
Oh, and these two women have one more thing in common – they shared three of the same granddaughters – myself, and my two sisters. For when I first read the chapter ‘Using What God Gave You’ in the book, ‘The Purpose Driven Life’, I started to think about how each of my biological grandmothers used their abilities.
But then I began to wonder, what is the difference between a gift, a talent, and an ability? So I looked them up.
An ability is defined as; 1/ power or capacity to do or act, 2/ a talent, skill, or aptitude. Okay, what about a gift? In the sense that we are talking about today, a gift is defined as a special ability ; talent.
Hmmm, I’m seeing pattern here, so off to find the definition of talent; 1/ a special, often creative natural ability, and 2/ a person or persons with special ability.
So, if we are going to use these gifts, abilities, and talents that God gave each one us, how are we to figure out what God intends for us to do? We can start by taking a long, and truly honest look at what you are good at doing, and also what you really are not good at doing. And this is hard for us mostly because none of us want to “toot our own horn” and come out and say, “Hey! I’ve got a real talent with this thing! I AM SO good at it!” But neither do we want to look at ourselves and say, “You know what? As much as you may want to keep doing this thing, it just is not working the way this other thing would work for you if you put your energy there!”
Also, another problem with creating your own “Ability Inventory” is that there are likely many, many gifts, abilities and talents that you do not know you have because you have never been put, or put yourself, into a situation where you needed to use them. For example, before I picked up a crochet hook and learned how to crochet, I never thought I would be any good at, and look what that has become!
So as we start to look at how to use the gifts, abilities, and talents that God gave each of us, we need to start by asking ourselves:
1/ Where have I already been successful with using what God gave me?
2/ Where have I seen fruit in my life that other people confirmed?
3/ What do I want to experiment with to see if I can bear fruit in that area?

Because, unless you are actually involved in doing something, you are not going to know what you are good at! So, please get involved with something new and give it a try instead of saying, “Hmmm, I really don’t know if I’m going to be good at that. I’ll figure out my gifts and talents and abilities, and then possibly get involved.” You have a better chance of finding out what God gave you when you get involved and try something, not by thinking it out before you try the something!

You also need to take into account who you are, and what your personality is. Ask yourself:
1/ What am I doing when I feel the most fully alive?
2/ What am I doing when I lose track of time?
3/ Do I enjoy serving with a team or by myself?
4/ What do I really enjoy doing the most?

And in looking at how to use what God gave us, we can also really look at our own experiences in life and take the lessons we have learned and how those have shaped us. When John Clayton was here he talked briefly about a young woman who had been through a horrific experience, and now is planning on using some of that experience to develop a ministry and a service for other women who have gone through, or will go through the same kind of experience. What kinds of experiences have you each had? How could you use those to “bear fruit” for God?

Okay, so this all sounds so good! We can find our gifts, abilities, and talents, and we can use them! But what if I do not have a particular talent? What if someone else has that talent? Why can’t the talent, that I WANT, be on my list as well?
God gave YOU the specific talents, gifts, and abilities that you have for His purpose. Coveting someone else’s talent and resenting your own, that’s Satan trying to steal the joy you can have from using what God gave you! God wants you to enjoy what He gave you, those special and unique gifts, talents, and abilities that He put inside of you to do. Going back briefly to Woman A and Woman B at the beginning, I do not recall either of them ever saying that they wished they had the talent that the other had but that she did not. What I do recall is each of them being able to appreciate the ability the other had and complimenting her on the work that they were doing with what God gave her, and also encouraging her to keep going. As easy as it is to compare our talents to what we see are someone else’s talents, we need to focus on using our own talents, gifts and abilities, and also encouraging others to do the same!
Jesus’ parable of the talents illustrates how God expects us to make the most of what he gives us. As the author of ‘The Purpose Drive Life’ states, “We are to cultivate our gifts and abilities, keep our hearts aflame, grow our character and personality, and broaden our experiences so we will be increasingly more effective in our service.” Or in other words, if you don’t use what gifts, talents, and abilities God has given to you, you will lose them! But the parable also has another lesson in that if we use what God gave us, God will increase it! Wow, what a thought! That using our gifts, talents, and abilities that God gave us in the way that bears fruit for Him and glorifies Him could increase our abilities, gifts, and talents! Sounds to me like comparing someone else’s talents to my own would be counterproductive to what Jesus was saying!
But we also want to be sure that using what God gave us does not grow old, wearisome, and stale. So, after finding the gifts God gave you, and starting to use them, work at developing your gifts by practicing, stretching and challenging yourself, and learning all you can to improve on what you are already doing
For as a Danish proverb says, “What you are is God’s gift to you; what you do with yourself is your gift to God.”
Thank you.

Racing for Raccoons!

So, tonight after work I decided it was time to go to the mall to finish up my shopping for Christmas presents. Last year, Stacy and I drove to the mall and after spending an hour trying to get out of the parking lot we declared that if we HAD to go to the mall so close to Christmas we would take the bus, so , I took the bus tonight. And that is half of why this story will be memorable to me.

Since Christmas of 2000, I have collected the plush Christmas collectable toy that Sears sells. Money from the toys goes to helping Boys and Girls Clubs around Canada so I think it is also a worthy cause! Here are the ones I have collected thus far!

Oh, and since Nora and Levi were born, I have also bought one of these toys for each of them each Christmas. But I had not been able to get to Sears yet this year, but thought, "Hey, no problem! They always have some of these toys still even into February!"

So, I went tonight, by bus, to St. Vital Mall here in Winnipeg, which is the closest mall to my house. I walked around, and around, and around inside of Sears looking for this year's toy - a raccoon named Reginald. Couldn't find any, so decided to ask.

"Sorry, we're all sold out already."

So much for extras in February for them! :-(

Okay, so, now what? The clerk I was speaking with suggested I ask at the main customer service desk on the second floor, they may have a few still hanging around, or know where more are. So, I did!

"Sorry, we're all sold out already. Actually we sold out last week!"

Asked if they knew of any other Sears that might have them (side note: Stacy had called me last night asking me if I had picked up these collectable toys yet because there was a display of them at the Sears she was at.)

"I know that the Kildonan Place Mall location had some a couple of hours ago."

Okay, I know that there is a bus that goes right past St. Vital Mall and goes to Kildonan Place Mall (much further north and east of St. Vital Mall, and my place as well). So, start walking through the mall to get to the closest exit to the bus stop, and then walked across the very packed parking lot to the street.

Then I looked over just to make sure that the bus was not coming.

But it was!

I started running! In my winter boots! On a light dusting of snow!
I got to the street that I had to cross in order to get to the bus stop, which the bus was now at.

RED Light!

Bus is still sitting there! Okay, no traffic for this way, I can get across! Oh no, now traffic can go, I'm on the median, half way to the bus stop. Is it pulling away? Nope, nope, still there.

GREEN Light! RUN!!

The bus driver was nice enough to wait for me, which was wonderful because the next bus was due to come by in 30 minutes!

So, enjoy a nice warm ride to the other mall, get to the other mall, find the Sears store (before tonight I had never stepped foot inside the Sears in that mall), start looking for a display of my "treasure".

"RACCOONS!!!"

Looked the display of collectable plush toys over and chose the best three I found (and no, I did not have to look through the entire display).

Uh oh, the sales clerk is looking at me a little strangely. Looked at her straight in the eye and said, "I've been collecting the toys from each year for 10 years now, and the first Sears I went to tonight was sold out of them!"

A look of understanding came across her face, but she still looked at me a little strangely! Guess I need to be a little less excited when I find what I have been searching for and have had to go through "so much" to find! ;-)

So, waste a little time waiting for the next bus to come to take me back to my area of the city. Pretty uneventful ride, but am trying to find out from the Telebus service which of the two possible stops for my connecting bus, which goes past MY place, I need to get off at. Turns out you need to know the actual bus stop number because that line is completely automated! So, decide to get off at the stop that had three possibilities:
1/ My connecting bus is immediately at the stop;
2/ My connecting bus is on the alternate route and a two block walk will let me get on that bus;
3/ I walk home

Well, the first possibility did not happen, it was going to be a 20 minute wait, so start walking to see when I can connect with the next bus coming the other way. I'm half a block from the stop, and there comes that bus. So, I start running, but the driver does not see me and drives away.

So I walked. Took me 20 minutes to walk all the way home, so in the end the choice of stop was best because if I chose the other stop I had three possibilities;
1/ My connecting bus is immediately at the stop;
2/ My connecting bus had just gone past and would need to wait for 20-30 minutes;
3/ I walk home, which from that stop would have taken 45 minutes.

Oh, and for those of you still tuned in to this novella, here is a picture of this year's collectable Christmas toy that I have in my collection, and one for Nora, and one for Levi!!!





PS - I also STILL don't have all my shopping done! *sigh*
PSS - But isn't he just soooo cute!!!!

Out of the Mouths of Kids!

In the past two days, I have had the wonderful experience to hear kids express their opinions and their knowledge in a way that struck me as quite a bit more mature than they seem to be.

First, on Sunday, our sermon was about how Jesus was present at creation, with God. Then in the kid's Bible class that I sit in to assist with a child with special needs I ended up needing to direct her attention again, and so I asked her, "Who made the kitties?" I was expecting the answer, "God". The answer I got was, "Jesus". ;-)

Then today, after trying to teach all the children at the daycare about sneezing into our sleeves so we don't spread germs, one child wanted to play with a toy that in a nutshell follows the "On Top of Spaghetti" song. The child started to play, but then stopped and looked confused. I asked what was wrong, and he said, "How can we roll the meatball when we sneeze into our sleeve?"

Other than those, my life is pretty basic still - working, crafting, and since it is November I'm writing as part of National Novel Writing Month! Basic concept of NaNoWriMo - write a 50,000 word rough draft of a novel from November 1 to November 30. Should be fun!!

Two Unique Occurrences, Moments Apart

The first unique occurrence was when I was standing at my bus stop after work today. A panhandler was coming around, and no - panhandlers in downtown Winnipeg is not a unique occurrence. The unique part about it was how he approached people. He would call out, "Hey!", in a 'I know you' sort of tone, or he would compliment the people and then just ask, "Do you have any spare change?" Most just shuffle along asking everyone for money with their heads downcast a bit, and they mumble their words.

The second unique occurrence was when I was on the bus just a few moments later. A "strange" looking vehicle pulled up beside my window and I looked for a name on it. When I found it I read "Exceed". Well, I'm not familiar with this vehicle so I looked it up when I got home, and found that it is a Mitsubishi product. The following pictures will show you what I found on the 'Net of what the vehicle looks like, and why I found it so unique!







Pretty cool, huh?? I thought it was!

I hope everyone has a very safe Labour Day Weekend!

The Things Sisters Do.....

So, over my holiday time I babysat Nora and Levi for three days. I had a blast each day, and so did they!

Now, Selena has this dry-erase board on the side of her fridge that she "uses" for notes for herself. Disclaimer: There was nothing on the board before any of these drawings were made!

So, to be a little bit of an imp, I and her kids drew on her dry-erase board each day, leaving her something to see when she got home! For the first one, I just thought how cute it would be to leave her the "udderly" note, so I asked the kids to each draw a cow. For the second one, I did it because I had about two minutes before leaving for soccer with the kids. The third one we drew after getting back from the Steinbach Family Fun Festival where the last thing we did for the afternoon was go on a horse ride - it was a Heritage tour, but the Nora really wanted to go on a horse ride, and Levi said he would go if he could sit in my lap, and the kids both did really well when the horses stopped so the tour guide could tell us more about Steinbach. So, the kids then wanted to draw horses on Mommy's board because they had gone on the horse ride. Well, I just couldn't say no to that, but I also couldn't come up with anything more clever to write in addition to the drawings!

Avast There Matey!!

So, yesterday was our annual Church Picnic, hosted by a couple who live out in Gross Isle. They have a wonderful yard and do very well with hosting the picnic for all who make a point of being there! Well, this year it was more like Pirate Island rather than a yard!

Everyone got to wear bandannas, or pirate hats, and (temporary) tattoos, and eye patches! All the sports like games were pirate themed, and many were tough to do!

After games were done, we feasted on hamburgers, hot dogs, salads and fruit, as well as some sweet desserts!

Then, after a bit of time to let supper settle, out came the 'slip and slide' mat, water, and bubble soap! All the kids had a blast with the slip and slide, especially considering that we had perfect weather for it - hot and sunny!

After the kids changed into warm clothes, we all settled in for the fireworks show, which Levi declared to be too loud, but clapped after each one anyways!

It was a long day, but a very good day!

For more pictures, check out my Facebook page as it allows for more pictures to upload, faster!

A Different Kind of Park Time

Yesterday when we went to the park for outside play time, we had a very new experience occur. I had checked the ground for anything unusual and found nothing, so I was very surprised when the children started to run up to me to tell me that there was "a baby mouse on the ground.....and he's dead!"

Well, I got right over there, really unsure what I was going to find since I had seen the area not even 5 minutes earlier and there was nothing! Well, lo and behold, there was this tiny creature laying on the ground, all curled up with it's eyes closed. Not a baby mouse though. It was a baby squirrel! Then, as I am calling to another staff member to bring me a vinyl glove, the squirrel started to move! Okay, definitely NOT dead! Now what?

See, I am used to finding expired creatures in the park and using a glove and a plastic bag to dispose of them. But not having the poor little thing survive the 20 to 25 foot drop from where the nest could be in the tree directly above where it landed. I almost felt like saying something like, "I don't work with live animals!", but didn't.

Well, another staff member procured a shoebox and a towel for the poor thing, and we spent most of the rest of our time outside trying to protect the poor baby squirrel from the 28 or so children who just wanted to look really closely at it, and possibly also touch it! I was glad that they were so interested in the squirrel (since they keep an eye out to be able to chase the adult squirrels around the park - kids on the ground, squirrel in the trees or along our fence!) but was worried for the life span of the squirrel if the children got too close.

As far as I understand the staff that got the shoebox for the "beast" also took it to see a vet and then to their place because the mother did not come and get her baby even after all the children (and staff) left the park.

But now I can say that I have also handled a live baby squirrel!

The Cutest Kids that You Ever Did See!

I love my niece and nephew to pieces, and they are VERY adorable, especially when they pose for a picture for Auntie while I was babysitting them so Selena and Curtis could have their anniversary date!

Then, almost a week later, my Dad emailed me the picture of myself, Selena, and Stacy. He was testing out his new "toy" - a printer/scanner/copier all in one machine and decided to show off how well it worked!

Ah, spring brings out the quirks in some, doesn't it!

Waxing Nostalgic!

Last weekend, I was able to borrow the DVD sets of the first two seasons of 'Airwolf', a show that ran from 1984 to 1987, with two different set of cast members, but all seasons, and shows, revolving around a helicopter. Well, not just any helicopter, as those who are familiar with the show know. I have been enjoying the shows I have watched so far, and have noticed that one of the sounds (effects) that I still thrill to is the "howl" that the helicopter makes with some of the aerobactic moves it makes. This show was also a bone of contention between my parents and I as they did not think it was a terribly appropriate show for a girl of my age to be watching, but I loved it none-the-less!

Also last weekend, my Aunt gave out copies of a video, now on DVD, that was made Christmas of 1987 of our family's Christmas that year. It was a great trip down memory lane, and made me pause to think of all that has happened in the past 21 years! Definitely helps me look forward to the family reunion we are planning for the summer!

So *THIS* is Spring???

So, we are technically in the spring season, right? Well, this is what it looks like from outside my balcony door after over 12 hours of snowfall. My bus ride this morning took 70 minutes to get to work, and this afternoon it took 55 minutes! The usual ride time is about 25 minutes each way!

No, the picture on the bottom is not fuzzy, that's the snow still falling! And the snow pile on the balcony railing is ALL from this storm system as the railing was completely clear from all the warm weather we had been having!

*sigh* So it looks like we will be waiting a little longer for spring to actually be here!

Talk like My Dad, then Talk Like Me

Well, I did it again the other day - I sounded like my Dad. Only this time it was to two 5 year old boys as I walked them to their school for afternoon classes.

The one boy noticed a "rainbow" in the water puddle as we were crossing it, and stopped to look at it. He of course asked me why there was a rainbow in the water. So I replied:
"Well, you see, the cars leave gas and oils on the snow and as the snow starts to melt the gas and oils stay on top of the water, making it look like there's a rainbow there!"

The one little boy didn't believe me and drew out a long, disbelieving, "Noooo"!

So I then said, "Or it could be that a leprechaun took a bath in the water puddle and left a rainbow behind to let us know he was there!"

The boy then believed the actual scientific answer - go figure!

Stacy and Grant

On a windy, chilly, January day (January 24, 2009), Stacy and Grant said their "I Do's". The day went perfectly, without anything out of the ordinary or not planned for happening. The weather was chilly, but that's January weather in Winnipeg.

Many friends and family were able to come and be a part of their day.

Congratulations Stacy and Grant!

Start of a New Year, Memories of Christmas!

This year we all, meaning Mom, Dad, myself, Selena, Curtis, Nora, Levi, Stacy, Grant, and Curtis's parents Lorne and Elinor, spent Christmas together at Selena and Curtis's house. It worked out really well for all involved as Mom and Dad stayed with Stacy and I which meant that we had a ride out to Mitchell with them as Grant needed the Escort to get to and from work even over Christmas and Boxing Day. Nora and Levi slept in their own beds, and Lorne and Elinor stayed with Curtis and Selena.

The weather cooperated enough to allow for better winter driving, and for some of the group to go ice skating one afternoon!

There was much food involved with the three days we were out at Selena and Curtis's house, as well as many different games played: Cribbage, Trivial Pursuit x 2, Trump Trash x2, Rook, Playdoh (hey, it is a game to a two year old!), and Disney Princess Bingo & Checkers & Dominoes & Tic Tac Toe! Oh, and the DVD version and the handheld game version of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

A fun time was had by all, and I feel so blessed to have a family that spends our times together making good memories, laughing, and just having fun!