Blog announcement

We interrupt your blog reading for a public announcement.....

As you may have surmised from the increasing length of time between my blog posts- it's been hard for me to carve out time to blog recently.

Like many women my age, I am finding that there are just not enough hours in the day to do everything I'd like to do. As a result of trying to keep up, I find I'm in a constant panic to cover all the bases with a decreasing energy level.

It's time to evaluate and prioritize the activities that fill my days.

As I've mentioned in past posts, there are all the things I must do - house keeping, cooking, laundry, garden and office work. And then there are the things I love to do - travel, spend time with grandkids and friends, make cards and scrapbook, read, cook and entertain.

One thing that's become very evident is that I'm spending too much time on the computer. There's office work, posts for Mennonite Girls Can Cook, keeping up with friends, reading other blogs, bill paying and on-line photo books, to name a few.

So one of the first things I've chosen to do to reduce computer time is to declare a hiatus on writing my personal blog.

I've really enjoyed blogging and hope to return to it again but for now, I'll be leaving this on the back burner until further notice.

Many thanks to all of you for your interest and comments. You've been a real encouragement to me. I look forward to resuming this when I'm working less and have accomplished some of the things on my long "Must do" list.

Thanks again for your interest and now...back to your regular scheduled blogs......

A milestone year.

Yes, the time has come -

I'm starting another decade today.

I remember praying as a teenager:

"Lord let me live long enough to get married"

Later, the prayer was amended to "let me be able to have children"

and after that "Lord, I'd really like to have the chance to be a grandma."

Now I've reached that age that many women dread - 60.
My hair is grey - which still surprises me on occasion.
I get aches and pains far more frequently than ever before
and signs of aging are becoming more and more apparent.
I just don't know how I got to this milestone so quickly.

Here I am,1 year old and grinning

My younger sister, Janet and I so proud of our brand new baby buggies

I think this picture says 1964 so I was just entering high school

My school picture from Gr. 13

Well God has answered all those prayers and so many more over the years.
I 've been married for 38 years to my very best friend,
I have 3 great kids and they are all married, each to a terrific spouse.
I'm a grandma now - to 5 amazing grandchildren.

This picture was taken shortly after we got married in 1971 (love that dress!)

It's been an awesome trip though and I wouldn't give up a single year.

(well maybe some of those awkward teen years).
I have an amazing family, wonderful friends, and have been able to do all kinds of things I'd never have dreamed of as a child or even as a young woman.

This picture is probably from 1981

I've travelled to places I'd never dreamed I'd go - Belize, Honduras, Australia, Germany, Italy and Denmark to name just a few. We've also traveled all over North America from north to south, east to west. I've traveled by car, train, boat, plane, kayak, (Yes, believe it or not!) and motorcycle, I've enjoyed fishing trips, snorkeling, cruising, gardening, entertaining and more.

God has been faithful throughout all these years.

There have been many ups and downs - times of laughter and prosperity and times of tears and adversity but God has walked alongside me all the way and will not leave me.

Here we are with the grandkids this past Christmas.

We are in Palm Springs as you are reading this.

We'll be spending 2 weeks here with good friends, enjoying the sun and a time of relaxation.
I'll be back blogging when we get home.

As several of my friends have done, I plan to celebrate all year.

After all being 60 only comes once.So here's to the next year and all it brings.

May my days and years bring glory to God.

Time ....

I've been wrestling lately with time management. This is an old battle which rears its head every so often and I'm still not sure how to win it. It especially plagues me when the new year comes around as it is always on the top of my resolution list. ie:"This year I will be disciplined in my use of time"

The way I see it, the things I fill my time with can be grouped in 3 categories.

First there are the things that have to be done or they visibly pile up and seriously disturb my peace. They are my responsiblity at this time in my life.

Things like:

• making meals
• washing dishes
• keeping ahead of the dust and clutter in the house- there's always something that needs doing to keep the space we live in comfortable and inviting
• loads of laundry (I still do Harv's laundry - after all he keeps the car maintained for me)
• gardening and yard work
• and of course all the personal maintenance that increases with age
  My work in the office also falls in this category - apparently I get paid for this (at least that's what the accountant tells me) - I mostly enjoy this - it's good to be involved in our business.
• paying bills
• sending out invoices
• keeping records
• banking and filing, etc.

The next category could be titled "things I really need to do but don't always make a priority" Things like:

• exercising or walking
• reading my Bible
• visiting the elderly and shut in
• reading to learn and enlarge my mind
• gardening (this definately falls in more than one category)
• entertaining and cooking for friends (another 2 category item)

Then there are the "Things I want to do" category. These are the kinds of things I am always stealing time from the other categories for and then feeling guilty about.

• card making
• spending time with kids and grandkids (this is guilt free fun- and becomes my top priority each time they come over)
• scrapbooking
• sorting through pictures and negatives so I have something to scrapbook!
• entertaining and cooking for friends
• on line stuff - blogging, reading blogs, emailing
• reading for pure entertainment
• having coffee/lunch with friends
• shopping and bumbering with friends
• holidaying, motorcycling and boating with Harv
• watching a movie ( very low on the list but still there)

This year I decided to try to take Thursdays for this last category. My reasoning is that I may never have guilt free time to tackle this list if I don't dedicate time to it.

But then I remember that my time is not my own. God has given me a set amount of time, just as He has everyone else and my priority should be doing what He calls me to do.

I'm afraid I don't always listen and obey and perhaps that is why I have this ongoing battle with time.

I am grateful that God is not a joyless slave driver -

He created us with talents and desires;

instilled in us the need for work and play;

the ability to give our job our all out effort

and the ability to lay back and enjoy our rest;

the fortitude for self sacrifice and the abandonment to pure pleasure.

Lord, be my time manager.
Direct me to the activities that most honour and glorify You.
Fill my hours and minutes with worthwhile things.
Give me satisfaction in hard work,
perserverance in mundane tasks,
and delight in play and creativity.
Keep me committed to making time for relationships
with You - first and foremost,
with my family and friends,
and with those You bring across my path.
I place my time in Your hands Lord.

Overwhelmed

Are you feeling as overwhelmed as I am this week?

Hearing over and over again of the devastation in Haiti I am sick at heart and

as I see pictures in the media of the immensity of pain, loss and chaos the people there are going through, I can do nothing but weep and pray.

How often during my day do I complain over some small thing that's upset my comfort zone?

I have to repent and remind myself again of all I have here in North America and how often I take our peace, stability and wealth so for granted.

I don't understand why such a poor country as Haiti has been the victim of hurricanes, excruciating poverty and government corruption and upheaval all these years and has now been hit once again, this time with an earthquake of horrific proportions.

I just have no answers for why this has happened or what God hopes to

accomplish through this.

I do know that because I love God and desire to serve Him,

I will contribute to the relief effort by giving what I can and

by praying earnestly for those who are suffering as well as

for those who are called to physically help the Haitian people.

What I am sure of is that God has far more love and compassion for these hurting people than we can ever hope to have.

I am trusting that in the end we will see the other side of these painful and confusing events;

the complete picture as God sees it and

we will find that there is a pattern of undescribable beauty and grace.

100 Posts!

I just noticed that my last post was the 100th I've done since beginning my blog in June 2007. I knew nothing of blogging 5 years ago. Now it is part of my daily life - reading your blogs, writing my own and contributing to yet another. Blogging has allowed me to share my life experiences and has given me glimpses of how others live their lives. This interaction with "on line" friends has certainly enriched my life and I'm grateful for all I've learned from you.

What did I do with my time before blogging? I could probably name a few things I don't seem to have enough time for now. Ah well, it all comes down to the choices we make, the things we prioritize. As time goes on and our lives move from one season to another, the things we choose to spend our time on changes as well. Only God knows what the future holds and my aim is to be content with today and to look forward to what tomorrow holds.

For now, blogging remains an enjoyable part of my life and I look forward to the next 100 posts.

Some MiddleAged Musings

I had a friend add me to her Facebook "Friend List" this week. I've been reluctant to get involved in Facebook and I'm not sure why. Maybe it is because I don't usually jump on bandwagons. I need to be persuaded that they are worthwhile and something I really want to do. I did put my name on facebook and on my highschool's list this past weekend but that's as far as I've gone. No picture, no profile, no "friends" list. In fact I really don't know how to go about it all and so far I'm quite happy with not knowing.
Even this blogging thing - I love the opportunity to talk about what's happening in our life and what I think about issues etc. but I haven't even given this blogsite to more than a few family members and maybe a friend or two. I keep having this suspicion that it is all too accessible to those nasties out there who want to steal identities and find out where all the cute babies live. A little extreme? I don't know. I know that if I was a young mom today, I 'd be really careful about how much information to post and where it is posted.
I mean, would you put all your personal information on a poster and nail it to every hydro pole in your province?
It is tempting though to tell all via the internet. I'm a gabber by nature and my kids tell me I'm always giving too much information about everything. Okay - so who am I to question this whole thing? I'm a prime example of not walking the talk!

However, that being said, I do love to read my daughter's blog - I enjoy seeing the different aspects of her personality that are revealed via this new technology. I'm seeing new things about her daily. Many of her postings show a giftedness of expression that I didn't know she had and personality traits that have been hidden to me until now. I am very proud of her.
I have also been very touched and blessed by some of her friends' blogs. There are alot of very gifted young women out there who are not afraid to be up front about who they are and what they believe in. Way to go ! - all you who embrace the new with courage and style.

I don't know yet where my place is in this brave new world so I'd better stop being sceptical about it or I could be eating crow in the future.