Been Missing Me?

Option 1 arrangement

Option 2 arrangement

          Have you missed me?  I’ve certainly been missing my time writing the blog. 

        

  I’ve been pre-occupied this past week.  If you’re like me, once you start a project it seems to weigh on the mind until you get it finished.  So I’ve been trying to focus on finishing the baby afghan (crocheted blanket) I started a couple of months ago.  It’s the one for my grand-daughter; I’ve written about it before.  I have FINALLY finished making all the blocks.  Now I have to sew them together. 

          “Maverick” and I are trying to improve our nutritional habits.  Our friends “Jon-David” and “Debra” have purchased a chiropractic business and health centre.  On Saturday, 30^th January, “Maverick” attended an all-day seminar regarding nutrition, exercise and chiropractic care.  He brought home a book, which outlines Maximized Living and a desire to take the 30-day challenge. 

          So, what does that look like?

• Switching toXylitol and/or Stevia (Truvia in the UK) instead of using sugar. 
• Limiting the amount of carbo-hydrates.
• Using whole grains instead of refined (white) flour.
• Eating more raw fruit and vegetables.
• Getting more protein from nuts, seeds, oil fish and free-range beef and chicken.
• Supplements

To find out more information, you can visit: http://maximizedliving.com/

          “Maverick” and I have made a slow start.  Once the baby afghan is finished, I plan to study the book thoroughly and begin implementing the menus. 

             Last Sunday, (14^th February), as I sat in the corner of the couch and crocheting, I was watching television.  (This does slow my progress, I confess.)  As I was scanning the viewing guide, this film title caught my attention, “A Bear Named Winnie.”   What a sweet story! 

          “A Bear Named Winnie”, which was filmed in 2004, is the autobiographical tale of a young Canadian Army Veterinarian who joins the Canadian Expeditionary Force.  As part of a Canadian Calvary regiment, Lt. Harry Colebourn was travelling to join the Canadian Army Veterinarian Corps.  The train that Lt. Harry Colebourn and his regiment were on, stopped at a station in White River, Ontario.  The men took the opportunity to stretch their legs, and the horses were given water.  On his walk about, Lt. Colebourn discovers a baby bear, which he buys for $20.  He names the bear “Winnipeg” and shortens it to “Winnie”. 

          The relationship between Harry and Winnie is extraordinary, as Winnie is socialised with humans exclusively.  She becomes the regiment’s mascot.

          Eventually Winnie ends up in a zoo in London, England.  Though separated for a time, Harry and Winnie are re-united. 

          At the end of the film, you discover A.A. Milne and his son, Christopher Robin, were great fans of Winnie.  She became the inspiration for the “Winnie the Pooh” books written by A.A. Milne.  

          I do recommend that you watch this film.  The cast is great—Michael Fassbender, David Suchet, and Steven Fry.  There are “Ahhhhhh…” moments.  You will laugh.  You will cry.  And you will marvel at the profound effects that love between humans and animals can create.

A Bear Named Winnie DVD 

         So, there, you have a debrief of my week.  I hope to be writing more soon.

Serving Jesus, Author of our faith

“Lady Helene”

Happy Valentines Day

Sunset from Our Balcony

                Today we celebrate St. Valentine’s Day, and I must say that this one is very different to the first one I celebrated in England, back in 1988.  A pronounced difference in mind-set existed between Americans and the British. 

          Let me explain the background of my first British Valentines’ Day.  I arrived at Holmsted Manor in January 1988, one of three Americans in a group of about 35 people registered to participate in a Discipleship Training School; Youth With A Mission’s foundational training programme.

          Holmsted Manor sits out in a rural area, off Staplefield Road in Cuckfield, West Sussex.  The house was built in 1891, and had several owners before Youth With A Mission bought it in 1975, with the first Discipleship Training School (DTS) starting at that location in 1976. 

YWAM has a “No Dating” policy in place for all students attending Discipleship Training Schools.  Although many people have found their future spouses while participating in a DTS, the students are asked to defer developing “romantic” relationships for the duration of the training.  This is a reasonable request, as the DTS lasts between four and six months.  I will qualify this by saying that if a couple come to a DTS and they are already engaged, then that is acceptable.  But the focus of a DTS is to focus on getting to know God and learn how to share the gospel.

In November of 1987 I ended an engagement.  I had met “D.E.”  through working in the same office as him.  But I realised that “D.E.” was not the right person, so the relationship ended.  It was a painful time, and I was going through the grief process.  Yet I knew that my time in England was a special time for me and my relationship with God. 

Each day the community of YWAM staff and students met for lunch and supper in the dining room.  The dining room was to the left as you walked into the manor.  There were floor-to-ceiling windows, a bay window in the back and parquet floors.  Wooden tables and chairs provided seating, six at a table. 

Against the background noise of cutlery dinging on china, tea cups being placed on saucers and chairs scooting against the wooden floor, there was chatter.  Often you would hear laughter at other tables.  We swapped stories, learned about each other and our different cultures.

We were three or four weeks into the lecture phase of the DTS, and Valentine’s Day was approaching.   Americans believe in “including everybody”—so I mentioned that I was having trouble finding a Valentines’ day card for my Mom and one for my sister. 

WELL …imagine my surprise when I was immediately reproved. 

“Valentines Day is only for couples!”  The Brits were adamant! 

“But Valentine’s Day is about love.  And what about people who aren’t married, or in a relationship?”

“It doesn’t matter!  Valentines is for romance!”  

“Okay.”  I resigned myself.  But I still made a card for my Mom and sent it.  

I’ve had several Valentine’s Days since then.  I think the Brits have become a little more relaxed about sharing loving messages with family and good friends.  But the emphasis is still on romance.

I’m glad that God has given us the gift of romance.  I’m amazed and astounded that the Creator of the Universe is head-over-heels in love with me.  And I’m thankful the Lord has blessed me with my own husband; a husband who makes most days Valentine’s Day.

Serving Jesus, Author of our faith,

"Lady Helene"

Singleness Part 2

          I found it rather ironic that as I sat down to write this second post about singleness, Benri Dymet’s daily 10-minute broadcast “A Different Perspective” came on.  The topic for this particular programme was on Singleness.  Mr. Dymet took his Bible text from 1 Corinthians 7; Paul teaching on the gift of marriage.  Paul believed he was called to singleness but understood that not all people were called to live as he did. 

          Writing about singleness is difficult for me, because I have so many memories, thoughts and feelings revolving in my mind, like horses on a merry-go-round.  Which thought do I expound on?  Where do I start?

          My life was forever changed 14th November 1971.  I bet you’re wondering how I can remember that date.  Well, it was the Sunday before my 13^th birthday, which was 19^th November.  On that Sunday, I had the most amazing experience with Jesus. 

The Methodist church youth group I was involved with had gone to a small church in Kentucky to perform the Christian cantata*, “Tell It Like It Is.”  The youth group consisted of about 30 young people whose ages were between 12 to 19 years old. 

         

          The cantata, or folk musical, was comprised of several songs with speaking parts to transition from one song to the next.  The last song of the performance was “Pass It On.”** 

          All the lights in the church were off.  The music started.

“It only takes a spark to get a fire going…” the choir softly sang the first words of the song. 

A match scratched against the cardboard box, and the light from that single flame broke the darkness.  Liz, the girl next to me, who had struck the match, lit her candle.

          “And soon all those around can warm up in it’s glowing…” 

         

          Liz's candle touched my candle, and the wick took the flame.  I leaned over and offered the flame to the person in the front row of the audience, who lit her candle, then passed it on.

          “That’s how it is with God’s love, once you’ve experienced it.  You spread His love to everyone;  you want to pass it on.”

          As the flames passed from person to person, a peaceful Presence started in the back of the church,  then flowed forward.  It seemed like a cloud filled the room with holy reverence and love.  I can remember telling people later, it was as if Jesus had come into the room, walked down the aisle, touching each person along the way.

          As I sat there, I realised I had tears flowing down my cheeks.  I wasn’t sad or upset and couldn’t understand the tears.  I purposely dried them, and stopped the flow.  I prayed, “God, if that is You, make me cry.”  The flood-gates opened, and there was no stopping the tears or the adoration from my heart. 

           “You want to go up to the alter?” Liz said, who was also in tears

          “Yes.” I sobbed.  It seemed the obvious thing to do.  All around us people were crying, praying and going up to the alter.  The pastor was busy, going from one person to the next.  As he kneeled beside me, all I could do was say, “I love you Jesus.”  He said a short prayer with me and moved to the next person.   

          After I left the kneeling rail, I went and found my brother and gave him a hug.  

          From that day onward, I knew that Jesus was real, that His Presence had touched me.  I was five days away from being 13 years old. I wanted to live my life to honour Him.  It was the beginning of a “single” life.  I wanted Jesus to shine through my life.  It was a life-style decision.  

         

          As the years rolled by, it was because I had made that decision many other decisions I made were affected.  I didn’t want to get married just because:

·       I simply wanted to get married.

·       I wanted to have sex.

·       I wanted to have children.  And I wasn’t going to have children if I wasn’t married.

·       “Everyone” else was getting married.

·       I knew it would make my parents feel happier if I was.

·       I wanted someone else to take care of me.

The Bible contains many promises.  One of them is:  “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]: trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident ) also in Him and will bring it to pass.” Psalm 37: 4-5 Amplified version

Although I desired to be married and have a family, I also had other desires.  In my late teens-early twenties I set three goals I wanted to accomplish before I got married.

1)       I wanted to live in my own apartment/flat and have the experience of dealing with rent, utility bills, owning and maintaining a car.  

2)    I wanted to write a book.

3)    I wanted to visit England.  I was aware that sometimes people get married and never travel.  So, for me, seeing the United Kingdom was a high priority.

I did experience all three of those things before I got married.  Although accomplishing those things were important to me, there were also times the desire to be married was so strong and I was so lonely it hurt physically.  There were days of anger and frustration, (It isn’t fair!!!).  Through the days of self-pity, (What’s wrong with me?) and grieving (It is too late for me to bear my own children), it was those other desires that kept pulling me out of myself.  

Most of all, I had hope, because I knew (and still know) that Jesus is my constant companion for all my days.

Serving Jesus, Author of our faith,

“Lady Helene”

*a piece of music for singers and instruments that usually has several parts (called movements) and often has a religious subject

**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFs5WEWpuaE

Seasons of Singleness--Part one

          Several years ago I sat near the top of Wembley Auditorium at the Hillsong Colour Conference for women.  A panel of guest speakers sat on the stage discussing singleness.  A question had been posed to the panel, and a couple of the women had given their respective responses.  Then the leader/hostess of the session looked down the row and said, “Does anyone else have something to say about being single?”

 My hand shot up.  Okay, I was near the “nose-bleed” section in the back of the facility, and the question was not directed to me.  But, at that time I’d only been married a couple of years—so I had a lot more to say about singleness than about being married.

          In November 2002 I had my forty-fourth (44) birthday.  I was weeks away from getting married for the first time (18 January 2003).  I had spent twenty-six years of my adulthood single.  At different points in those 26 years I’d had plenty of time to ask myself what it meant to be single. 

In the Cambridge dictionary, it defines single as:

·       (SEPARATE)  considered on its own and ​separate from other things:

·       (NOT MARRIED) or not having a ​romantic ​relationship with someone:

There are many ways of being single (separate):

·       Being the only boy in a family of girls or vice-versa

·       Being the only girl in a group (of girls) who hates pink

·       Being the only person at a party who doesn’t like beer/alcohol

·       Being the only Caucasian person in a group of blacks, Asians or indigenous people.

·       Being the only short person in a group of giants

·       Being the only one who speaks more than one language

·       Being the only hearing person in a group of deaf people using sign language.

The list goes one.  In all of those circumstances, the “single” person always feels the difference, to one degree or another.  Communication can be a problem.  Prejudges can affect the mood of the group.  Or the “Single person” provides the opportunity to laugh at misunderstandings while learning how we are all the same.  For example, all of us need oxygen to breath.  Every person needs water to drink, food to eat and clothing to feel protected from the elements. 

Over the next couple of days I want to share some of my insights about living a single life, things I learned from walking the road myself. 

One point I would like to make is that you can have moments or days of singleness even when you are married.  But I will expound on that in a different post. 

Whether a person is the only “Goth” in a group of “Valley Girls” or a solitary sould standing alone on a beach, the feeling of singleness carries with it the desire to belong, to find like-minded folk.  Unless, of course, one is a hermit!  Even so, we long for connection, connection to each other and even more so, connection to God.  We were created that way. 

Singleness is a fact of life for all of us during different seasons of our lives.  I didn’t have the opportunity to share at the Colour Conference.  However, at the right time and the right place (my own blog) I am finally taking the time to share about my seasons of singleness.

Serving Jesus, Author of our faith

"Lady Helene"

PS.  Happy Pancake Day