mysteries and great joy

Today. Tuesday. May 31st, 2011. 25 years.

25 years of laughter, joy, sadness, struggling, growing. I sit here with my computer resting on my lap thinking, "It has been worth every moment."

I have learned some hard lessons in the past few years. The joy in my life was hard to find. So many times I just felt empty. There was one thing that I knew, however. I clung to it. I could find joy through it.

God loves me. God loves me. God loves me.

These past few months, I have realized some truths around that love.
1: God also uses joy and peace in our hearts to draw us closer to Him.
2: I don't have to be afraid that I'm going to have to pay for the joy with the equivalent of sadness.
3: Love is a mystery. I don't understand the way I feel about Jesse. I don't understand the way he feels about me. There is no explanation for us. It truly is a mystery and a gift from God.
4: In the same way, there is a mystery to God. Knowing this has helped with my search for peace. I am able to rest more content in Him than I have in years.

Yes. I am brimming with joy and thankfulness. Thank you, Lord. Thank you.
And thank you all, my dear friends and readers. May God also bless you this coming  year. :hugs:

Dreams & Wedding Plans

Once upon a time, there was a young lady who took me under her wing for an afternoon and let me see her room. In it was old books, old quilts, old sewing kits... I looked around in awe. Then, I saw it. Hanging there, against the wall was an old wedding dress. The ancient satin caught the light and glowed. As a typical girl, I almost stopped breathing in the presence of it's beauty. :-) It really was a priceless treasure; it had belonged to the girl's great-grandmother.

For years, I had dreams of what I wanted to be like when I was older. When I was young, my dreams consisted of having the same room the girl had but with one exception: I had not just one wedding dress but millions. Plus I would have a room full of candy and books and movies. And china dolls. (Let us not forget about the china dolls.) But gradually over time, I began to realize what was important and what wasn't. Strangely, as I grew (not much) taller, the earth rose up to meet me in my old age and I became practical. I packed my china doll away. I moved from home. I got a job. There is denim in my closet. I'm trying to stay away from candy.

But I do have an old wedding dress hanging in my closet to remind myself about the sugar and spice side of me. It hangs in my closet, light melting into the satin and looking beautiful. :sigh: I have no idea if I will every be able to make use of it but that is okay. Everyone needs something impractical in their lives. :-)

Part of the plans for my wedding consist of old bottles for putting flowers into. I have been planning on looking for them at yard sales for several weekends now but hadn't gotten the chance. Finally on Saturday, Jesse and I needed to go to Redvers anyways. They were having their town wide garage sale day and I was really looking forward to it. Due to rehearsal for the recital, we ended up not getting into Redvers until 3 or so. Which is apparently when most of the sales happened to shut down. We hit two in town that were just packing up and were able to snag some things that we needed (salt and pepper shaker set that we both liked, etc) but I wasn't finding any old bottles.

We were leaving Redvers when suddenly, about 2 miles out, there was a sign for a yard sale. It said "moving sale". As we were walking towards the garage, suddenly all I was seeing were old bottles and jars. Lots of them. Jesse looked at me and said, "We came to the right place." Lol. These people were antique collectors and had so much old glass, it was unbelievable. I told the lady what we were looking for and she was completely thrilled. We picked out several different bottles and dishes and she gave us a deal. We bought some stuff for $85. It wasn't the 5 cents a bottle kind of sale I'd been looking for but, hey... paying more  now means I can sell later. These bottles aren't cleaned yet. :-)

Anyways. As we were leaving, her husband came running over to the car and asked if we were the ones who had bought his milk bottles. He then asked if we would come to the shed and take a look at what else he had to sell because he thought we might be interested. We decided we could and he set an entire crate of these milk bottles in front of us. "Make me an offer," he said. Jesse and I looked at each other. Judging by what the man's wife had charged us for the few we'd gotten before, we thought around $200 for this crate and I simply didn't want to pay that kind of money! "Go ahead! Make me an offer. Don't be afraid to insult me," he said again. Jesse and I kind of stuttered a little bit. Hehe. :-D "Ok! Do you have a $10 bill in your pocket? Just give me $10 for the whole thing." I think our jaws just about hit the ground. Lol. We definitely had $10 and we now have enough bottles for the entire wedding. Wow.

It was an interesting inner struggle to watch, actually. The man was a salesman, wanting to get the biggest dollar for his product but he was also a kind hearted man. He asked what we wanted the bottles for and when we told him we wanted them for our wedding, he was so pleased. He gave us a butter churn, a couple of plastic crates, a wooden crate and a piece of petrified wood. *G*

When we went back to the car, the lady met us there and asked how much he'd charged us for everything. When we told her how much (a little gingerly, I assure you!) she gasped and looked... surprised and... delighted? I'm not sure. She wasn't displeased, for sure.... just very happy about her husband's generosity. She then insisted on giving us another tea cup for free. He kept urging her on by saying, "Ruth, they're getting married." "They are looking for antiques for their wedding." "They're getting married, Ruth!"

As we were getting ready to leave, she came running back to the car and handed us back the $10. "We decided we couldn't take it," she said. Jesse and I were rather overcome by their generosity. We were not anticipating it. What an answer to prayer. Each step we have taken in preparing for our wedding and new life together has been so amazing. So many things have been due to people's generosity.

Thank you. You know who you are.

But I am working today and I really need to get prepared for leaving. :-) My hair still isn't done and I need to get laundry in the wash. Plus, I need to put socks on. :-) :-) Ya'll have a great day wherever you happen to be. 

My Wish For You

May your heart be comforted today.

Jesse played his trumpet today at the Legion Ceremony. My thoughts and prayers were with the fallen and our Creator. Lord, remember our pain and suffering.

Someone lost their little child on May 25th. Lord, we thank you that he is no longer suffering but we ask healing for this family as they wait to join their child.

Let us rejoice this morning in the Love that God has for each of us. Let us not seek to find out His mysteries but rest in peace. 

[Random Side Note: I love Orange Italian Soda. I had my first one yesterday and I am already hopelessly addicted.]

The world was taken by surprise at the profoundness of the film The King's Speech (2010). King George VI of England was portrayed brilliantly by one of my favorite actors: Colin Firth. When he was announced as the Best Named Actor at The Oscars, I was cheering him on as loudly as the rest of the crowd. :-) Helena Bonham Carter was also amazing as the Queen Mother. She has played many roles which have thoroughly impressed me but none so much as her portrayal of Elizabeth Bowes Lyon. I highly recommend this movie for several reasons. (Eventually, the review for The King's Speech will be up on Ponderings.)

Whether by purpose or no, as soon as the hype over The King's Speech was finished, the impending nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton caused brand new sensations across the globe. At first I was annoyed by it. As with Justin Beiber or whoever the latest and greatest is, I do not like adoration and millions of fans towards anyone. But my curiosity got the best of me. :-) I have been studying the royal family for years and I figured with history happening in my time, I should be keeping up on it.

What can I say? I have always respected Prince William because he is The People's Prince. He seeks ways to be more normal. This normality has helped him become a better man, more able to serve the people of Britain. 

And then, there's Kate. She is strong, charming, able. Her demeanor commands respect, yet bestows kindness and affection. I have come to respect these two and hope for better days. Perhaps Britain will be bettered by the happiness and stability of this couple. I have been praying for them as they step into the society. 

I loved so much about this wedding. Her dress was amazing. :-) 

May Long Weekend = Downpour

Please pray for my sister Ellie today as she is in surgery. She's had such a rough time the past couple of years... I really hope this solves the problem. No more sleeping with her arm tied down!

It's always exciting, preparing for your very first yard sale! Neither Jesse or I had ever hosted one before. Indeed, we'd never had enough stuff we wanted to rid our lives of to warrant a sale. But we sure do now. :-) Last Friday Jesse and I went through the entire house and decided which things we wanted and which things we did not. It was a huge job. The more nooks and crannies we discovered, the more stuff piled up. Friday was difficult. There were so many nice things in our house and so many nice things that we had gotten else where. Which to keep? To be honest, it was nice to have to choose. Lol! But on the other hand, there were moments when it was so difficult... We ended up hauling three dressers/vanities downstairs, hauling two outside for the sale and keeping one for the master bedroom. They are all antique and beautiful. Some are in better condition than others but they're all amazing! We also took a double bed from upstairs for the sale and brought a single bed upstairs. We're quite pleased with how nice our house looks now. :-)

So, as we were working Friday, Jesse mentioned off hand that this area never has good weather for the May Long Weekend. Sure enough, it alternated between pouring and drizzling all day Saturday. We had a few people in at the sale, but not as many as we would have liked. Over the course of three days (21st, 22nd and 23rd) we sold only a fraction of what we would have liked to. However, we did make a total of $142.70. :-) That we are thankful for!

Well, lesson time is coming right up so I should prepare myself. :-) 

Stopping The Cycle

The situation:
Co-worker comes to work with cold. She says she isn't sick enough to stay at home but just sick enough to feel sick.
My thought: I wish she would stay at home so other people don't get her cold.

A few days later:
I come down with a sore throat and running nose. I consider not going to work but decide to go in anyway.
My thoughts: I can't afford to stay home; I'm not sick enough to warrant it; everyone else has already gotten it.

How ironic that I judged my co-worker for the very same act I was to commit a few days later. The older I grow and the more I experience, I begin to realize the depth and width of Jesus. We all know the story of the woman who was caught in the act of adultery. We all know how Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground as the group religious leaders waited impatiently for His reply. Can you imagine their disbelief as His words sunk into their minds?

"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

His words were so simple. Yet, they formed into something so powerful that in spite of themselves, those men were forced to lay down their stones and walk away.

The words of God are indeed amazing. They transform into thoughts, understanding and actions. Even if we live 100 years of this life, we would only comprehend a small amount of God's power and love. The rest remains a mystery that we will only understand when our minds are opened.

There is a scene in Doctor Who when Donna Noble becomes part Time Lord and the knowledge almost kills her. It was simply too much for her existence. I believe it is the same with God. We cannot understand everything while we are still human in a human existence. Come to think of it, there was a conversation between Moses and God in which God informs him that Moses cannot even catch a glimpse of God without dying. I would say that a non-human existence with God is going to be amazing. ;-)

One thing I have noticed since being involved with people from all walks of life is that people are very aware of God and Jesus. His words have lived down through the ages, echoing in the hearts and minds of His creations. I wonder how many acts of violence have been stopped? I wonder how many acts of love have been initiated?

Yesterday was "International Day Against Homophobia". I don't care what you believe about the homosexual lifestyle, these individuals are still people in need of love. But it isn't just homosexuals and lesbians who are shown hatred. There are many, many others who have taken their lives or simply lived in fear and grief because they feel unloved.

How can we be like Jesus? How can we stop the cycle of hatred? How can we lift the woman caught in the act of adultery out of the dirt of her life and give her a reason to embrace love?

Now I need to decide whether I'm going to work or not! :-) :-)

pictures from the inside of our house

Jesse came into PharmaSave today and brought me my camera and toothbrush. It was awesome. :-) So, here are some of the pictures I snapped the other day. I know they're not terribly good but they will give you an idea of what our place looks like. :-) I love our house!

This is where the porch was. You can see the full trashbags. It looked like a trash can or two had exploded under the porch. Perhaps the wind? We even found a rubber boot!

Jesse, his dad and mom loading the trailer with the wood we ripped up from the deck. These were the supporting boards/beams from beneath. Even some of them were really rotten.

The boards that were laying on top of the deck, after we piled them up. They were sopping wet! 

You can see the weeping tile if you look closely. Paul had to dig down a good foot to find it. This is the side of the house that we are going to have to jack up. 

The kitchen. :-) This room needs the most work, as you may be able to see! But we do have a refrigerator, microwave, stove, sink, some cupboards, etc. We will have to sit down with Jesse's dad and plan how we want to renovate. 

I like the stove but I think I'm going to move it. Or have someone else move it. ;-) It's too heavy for me. Anyways. I would like it to be sitting in the corner of the kitchen since it takes up quite a bit of space where it's at right now. 

I always chuckle whenever I look up and see the crazy way they installed the stove pipe. Honestly. 

See that piece of wood hanging off? It's really badly burned. I am so glad the entire place didn't go up whenever that happened. Lol. ;-)

Master bedroom. Nice and big with a lovely closet. I adore those windows!!

Part of the living room and office. It's hard to get a good picture of this so you can see what it looks like..

Part of the living room, plus the staircase. 

One of my favorite parts of the house. I love this railing. Love it. Love it. Love it!!!

One side of the upstairs. Also adore this part of the house. No work needed. It's so beautiful.

Looking down the stairs and towards the skylight. :-)

I hope you can see why I love our house so much. :-) Can't wait to make it our home and live there full time. September is on it's way, thankfully. Hehe. :-)

A Post of Happy Things

Last night, I got back home late and found a picture of two of my friends kissing at their wedding. They had kept it quite secret so I didn't even know they were interested in each other. Furthermore, I definitely did not suspect that Kim was interested in *hugging*, let alone kissing. ;-) (Kim used to be the Queen of the Cootie Mania.) The funny thing was that our mutual friend Ben Palmer had predicted a match between the two about a year before he passed away. I think everyone laughed but wouldn't you know? He was right. And it is so right because they are so perfect for each other.

The weather here has finally warmed up! I am not planning on wearing a coat to work this morning (which means we'll get about 2 inches of rain this evening while I'm walking home) because Spring has arrived. Yesterday evening when Jesse brought me home, it was around 11 and it was still so warm that neither of us were wearing coats. I am loving this weather. :-)

Yesterday, we spent most of the day cleaning up at our house. Paul and Dianne came over and helped us. Together we accomplished a lot. On Friday, Jesse and I tore up the old deck. That took most of the afternoon, after which, we went back to the Twietmeyers and crashed. We were so exhausted. Lol. I think every single bone and muscle in my body ached and I have colorful bruises all over my shins! The old deck was like a death trap. You had to be very careful to walk on the treads, otherwise, you fell through the wood. It was really rotten in spots. Anyways, it was so good to get that out of there. :-)

We piled the wood up on Friday and left it that way. Yesterday, we hauled the piles to the dump and cleaned up the trash that had been under the deck. (We even found a rubber boot...) Then, we unloaded a trailer full of things that Dianne had bought from friend of hers who was moving back to Spain... And we also brought some things from our house out (ugly green chairs, etc) to the trailer for the yard sale we're having next weekend.

Yes, I did take pictures! And left my camera at the Twietmeyers. :-P Sometimes I wonder if my head is screwed on correctly. ;-) (I also left my tooth brush.)

Other than that, I've been busy with working at PharmaSave and teaching. The end of the teaching year is coming up so the students are working hard to perfect their songs. The recital is on the 29th so we have another week. This is a stressful time for me... the teaching is intense and keeps me on my toes. I am torn between my love for teaching and being happy it's almost over with.

Well, I should get my lunch together and prepare for work. Maybe tonight I will be able to begin the next season of the Sarah Jane Adventures....

P.S. Erin S. took these pictures at the bridal shower. Thanks, girls! :-)

I am seated between my two mothers. :-) Heidi to the left (blue) and Dianne to the right (dark hair). 

You can see Lindsey sitting down... purple shirt... 

Brief

I was up at 7:12 this morning, trying to get the house cleaned. Jesse and I are spending this evening and all of tomorrow tearing up the old deck at our new house so I won't be in Carlyle to do my weekly cleaning. :-) I really like being up and working in the morning. It makes my energy level come up and last all day.

Lately I've been pretty busy. As you may have been able to tell! After coming back from Endeavour, I've been working, teaching and doing a multitude of other things that need to be done. One that I am most excited about is that I sent the wedding invitation information off to the person who is designing them. I can't wait to see the finished product. She always amazes me.

Well, work is calling so I'm off! Have a good day, folks!  

What Brothers Think Their Sisters Look Like

Courtesy: Jesse Holter

Bridal Shower... Married Life Prep... and Lot of Fun Stuff

Back home, enjoying the rain and quiet. The weekend and the days surrounding it were lovely and full of excitement. The party was amazing. Many thanks to my lovely friend, Lindsey who worked so hard to organize everything. My mom and sisters were also amazing... and all the ladies at the church who spent hours of their time cleaning, helping and simply being there.

Has anyone heard of Everyday Style? They used that company for the party (bridal shower). Basically, people would order things off of my wish list (items taken out of the catalogue)... and if the orders were over a certain amount of money, I would also receive many things half priced and some for free. The quality of the dishes and accessories are good. We're quite excited about it all. :-)

We got the keys to our house and looked at it more thoroughly yesterday. Our conclusion? That we got our money's worth. We love our house. :-) :-)

Pictures Of Our House -- May 4th

Our house... from the front. Or the back. Depending on how technical how you are. ;-) Basically, where you enter the building. Lol. 

The side that faces the lake.

Our address. :-) I like!

And yes, that is our reflection in the glass.

Meanwhile....

The Perfect End To A Day:

Talking with my best friend. We finish each other's sentences, share our innermost thoughts, talk about what we did today, tease each other... ::happiness:: God knew exactly who we needed for soul mates.

Thank You. :-)


P.S. Happy 21st birthday, Elizabeth Ann Holter!

We Have A House! Plus: A Multitude of Other Things That May Prove To Be Not Quite As Exciting. ;-)

As you guessed, the major decision I posted a prayer request about was due to the house. After the game of offering, and counter-offering, this morning about 11, I was standing at the till, checking out a customer. A flurry of movement caught the corner of my eye and I looked up. There was Jesse. He had a grin that stretched from ear to ear. I just knew what was coming next! Lol! When I had successfully sent the customer on his way, I ran around the counter to my beloved and he said very calmly, "They've accepted our offer." Then he just grinned with all of the excitement I was feeling. Actually, I was almost jumping up and down. :-)

It's been one of those situations where everything has fallen into place for us. So many answered prayers and hopes! As soon as we saw pictures of the place, we both liked it. And when we took Lindsey to see it with us for the first time, I realized how much I liked it... even just from the outside. The more places we looked at, the more we realized how we really did like this house. It needed work (a plus for us as it brought the price down) but it has so much room for us and company. :-) I will try to take pictures sooner than later and post them on here. :-)

Friday night, the worst storm I've ever seen plowed it's way through our part of Saskatchewan. A friend of ours who is in her 80's told us she hasn't seen a storm like this one since she was a small child. She has lived her entire life in SK! It started raining around 6:30, then gradually grew into something torrential. The vision was really poor on the way home (thank goodness Jesse was driving!), with rain/snow mix. We woke up Saturday morning and there was a good foot of snow on the ground. It snowed on and off all day.... Visibility was terrible. The wind was gusting up to 90 kph! I think we got about 2 ft of snow. We kept saying, "Can you believe it's actually nearly the beginning of May?" Lots of damage occurred... roofs off of houses, barns... cars smashed with trees... trees down... flooding with no pumps to dispose of the water because of the lack of power. Kenosee was out of power for over 40 hours. People were stranded away from town. Take a look at this picture from Carlyle, posted on The Weather Network.

Today was all sunshine though. And most of the snow is melting rapidly. I can't wait for it to be spring. :-) Everyone is eager for Spring!

I filed my taxes online today. I had never expected to do that since I really prefer the old fashioned snail mail thing. ;-) But things got misplaced and I forgot all about it until Will brought it to my attention the other day. And since I made some income this year I wasn't sure what to do. In the end, it was fairly simple. Thankfully! I am so glad to get that done. I also changed my address to our new one. It always feels good to be able to complete these things and have them behind me for another year. Plus, I was able to talk to a really nice lady at the tax place on the phone. :-) It always  makes my day when people are pleasant.

News Flash! My sister Ellie got her surgery date: May 24th. Thank you to all for your prayers! I really can't wait for her to be healing and getting better. Imagine being able to sleep well for the first time in months because you don't hurt yourself while sleeping?

The shower is coming right up. Wow. I am really excited for it. :-) Mom and Lindsey have both said cryptic things about secrets and other lovely things. :-) So many of our friends from Melville will be there, as well as the ladies from the area and my family (both biological and non). Getting married just keeps getting more and more fun.

I've been thinking a lot about how peoples' views of the Bible and God is dictated by culture and what others tell us to believe/think. I want to know truth. I want to have fellowship with God and live my life to the fullest. Sometimes it means giving up things and grasping at nothing as I plunge into the unknown. I wish I wouldn't hold traditions so dearly.

Random thoughts. :-) Well, it's late enough to close my eyes and I am really tired. I work tomorrow and teach. It's a good life. Just busy. And I definitely need my sleep. ;-) Ttyl!