Betsie ten Boon

In the final year of the first world war, when food was scares and hope thin corrie remembers Bestie saying to the family,
" It is going to be a harder winter than we have ever had before. We must show through our joy the worth of being a Christian. We should already be doing this, because seeing the dark clouds approaching is often harder than being covered by them."
In the second world war, the the sisters had been taken as prisoners for hiding Jews. At the concentration camp before she went to be with Christ, in that dark place, she knew the love of Christ, and not only that but wanted others to know it as well.
"We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still"

Oh that my faith would rest so in Christ.

Blessings

Currently reading...

Jonathan gave me a read through the bible in the year Bible. It is divided into daily readings which include Old Testament, Psalms, Proverbs, and New Testament. It is very easy and enjoyable. I like how my reading for the day is right there and no flipping around is necessary. I have been excited each day to come to the Word. I am hopeful that I will be able to read the whole bible this year.

I am also reading "Life Lessons from the Hiding Place. Discovering the Heart of Corrie Ten Boom." I stole this one from my parents book shelf when we were there visiting this Christmas. Besides the wisdom and beauty of Corrie that is so inspiring, I am finding all the information on Holland very interesting. My Grandfather immagrated to Canada from Holland. I have always been disappointed not to learn more from him about this place from which our family comes. It sounds like a beautiful country with strong, resourceful people.
I'll leave you with a quote that caught my attention last night. " We never know how God will answer our prayers, but we can expect that He will get us involved in His plan for the answers. If we are true intercessors, we must be ready to take part in God's work on behalf of the people for whom we pray." Pg. 38
Blessings

Sick

Not feeling really well today. The kids and I didn't go to church today. Jon had to go because he was leading the service. I thought about it but as the time grow closer and I still needed a shower I decided I wasn't going to make it. I feel achy and tired. Jon let me have a nap this afternoon. I slept for two hours. I felt a bit better after that. It's a little after 9:00pm and I'm wasted. I'm heading to bed. Ian hasn't been sleeping well, so who knows how much I'll be awake tonight. I can't figure out what's wrong with him. Teething, growth spurt, the tea I'm drinking. I guess I'll never know.
Off to bed.

In Jesus Name.

The other day I was emailing Jon about an email that we needed to send to a friend. I wrote, "would you like me to write the email in your name?"
It reminded me that of the classic closing to our prayers, "In Jesus name, Amen." It struck me that when I say this phrase I am saying, "God, I say all this through Christ." or " Hear my words as if it were Jesus talking to you." The whole concept of Jesus interceding at the throne has become personal and more dear to me with this insight.
Its amazing how we do and say things without realizing that they are a part of our theology. Or we do and say things out of habit even when it doesn't line up with our theology.
Food for thought.

artist at etsy

One day I'm going to spend my days looking for fabrics and then sitting at a sewing machine creating new wonderful things!
Hope you can apperciate this little video like I did

a day in the life

I'm a mother of three with what always seem to be full days, and yet when I sit down in the evening to write a blog I have a terrible time thinking of something to write.
My Moms and Tots group is doing at cookie exchange tomorrow. So today I did my best to make something for the exchange. I don't know why I had to try something new. I made Cream Cheese Swirl Blondies. All three of the kids were either crying, begging , or complaining during the mixing process. I was about to throw in the towel, but I sent to two older one's to their rooms and put the youngest down for a nap. Problem solved! The blondies didn't turn out the way I thought they would. Oh well. I'm supposed to have the recipe typed out for whoever takes my cookies...but that's not going to happen the way the day has gone.
It is so cold outside today. It seems like the past week I've either been in my house or in my van. Walking somewhere is not going to happen. This is not a particularly good thing seeing I've just had a baby, its Christmas and there are always more sweet things to eat, and when it gets cold I always want to eat things with either or both flour and sugar. What's with that? It is as predictable as the canada goose going south for the winter. The temp. starts dropping and I start baking. Hey it just hit me, that would be the good thing about living in the Kenyan heat...I wouldn't ever feel like baking. Who wants to turn on the oven when it's plus 30? Not me!
Well, wish me luck with my blondies at Moms and Tots tomorrow. Hope someone wants them.
Off to bed I go.

Christmas excitment.

The tree is up and cookies are made. Its christmas time at the Chalmers house. I'm so happy we are going to Ontario to celebrate with my family. Only 7 more sleeps until we go! Very exciting. We will be at Josh and Becky's house for 11 days and then in Hamilton for 5 days. It has been too long since Josh and I have celebrated Christmas together.
Last Christmas I was submitting to Christ as I was unable to see my family. Its amazing to me how when we give our lives completely to Christ, even what may seem like small things He often remembers us and our trust in Him. How many times have I longed for something and given it to God and He has in His own time blessed me. I want to trust my Father in heaven. He is so good. Even when I was crying last Christmas because I was not with my family, He was good then.
See you in seven sleeps

Food inc.

Official+Food%2C+Inc.+Movie+Site+-+Hungry+For+Change%3F

This was a really interesting movie. We definitely shopped a little differently today. Jon was really into reading all the labels. It really is unbelievable how many things that corn is in. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in what they eat.

Soup, a night out and my growing boy

So this is a mix-mash of the last week.
I made some amazing soup on Monday. Cream of Pea and Spinach. I love the beautiful green color and texture was so smooth and velvety. Here's the recipie
1 small onion chopped small
5 tbsp of butter
1/4 cup flour
4 cups chicken broth
1-2 cups water
2 cup frozen/fresh peas
1 bag of spinach
1/2 cup heavy cream. I use coffee cream

1.melt butter in larger pot
2. add onion and cook unto translucent don't brown them
3.add flour stirring let it start bubbling
4.add broth slowly stirring all the time
5.add water
6.bring to boil and turn down to simmer stirring ferquently. let it thicken to consistency of cream. let it simmer for 10 mins to get rid of flour taste.
7.add peas and spinach. simmer until wilted and mushy.
8.puree in blender in batches. Don't fill blender too much with each batch
9.put back in pot add cream and heat. Don't boil or you may ruin your cream.
Enjoy!!!! Try using broccoli that's good too!

On Wednesday night Jon and I were able to go the Agrobition. We had a lot of fun together. Blayne and Penny Banting offered to look after Elijah and Grace. What a blessing that was. We felt so served and loved by them. We bought tickets for the rodeo. We saw some bucking broncos, cattle roping, calf wrestling, sheep herding dogs, mutten bustin' and lots more. Its a nice crowd, its not too loud and Jon and I were able to watch and have a conversation.

I thought I throw and picture of Ian in the jolly jumper for the first time. He just loved it. I think he was in there for a half hour or more. What a cutie. He's getting so big so fast. Always smiling expect when he's hungry or tired.

I've been given so many good gifts. Thank you Lord.

my last day alone...kinda

Jon had been out of the house for the last three days in a row. I'm tired of parenting by myself. Today he went with his Dad to the Riders game. They had a blast. I'm really glad they enjoyed themselves. Jon has been wanting to do that for so long.
When I'm alone at home without another adult I end up on the internet all day. Today I became a member on www.lionbrand.com Its a yarn company. I don't know if its Canadian but they definitely had a canadian site with canadian prices. They have lots of free patterns. Some nice ones too. I hate it when free patterns are aweful looking.
The kids have watched the third Ice Age movie atleast 5 times over the past three days. They are still laughing. We borrowed from our neighbour. I think we'll give it back tomorrow so I don't have to say no to watching it for the sixth time.
Elijah was eating Cheerios this afternoon as a snack. I said to him, "I don't know if there are Cheerios in Africa" He said, "What will we eat for breakfast?" I said, "maybe eggs." He said, "you don't eat eggs at breakfast." I realize I maybe haven't given a lot of variety at breakfast for my family. :)
I'm praying Ian sleeps well tonight. I can't handle being woke after only sleeping for an hour.

I love these sites

I really wanted to share these sites with everyone. I you love beautiful things that are made by people who love their art form you love love these sites too.
www.etsy.com
This site is a host to thousands or artists and crafters. The amount of incredible treasures here is unbelievable. I'm on this site at least once a day being inspired.
www.sarahandabraham.com Sarah & Abraham is a site for those who love paper and stationary. Being a paper fanatic I feel in love with their stuff right away.
There is tunes of beautiful paper and stationary on Etsy too.
Enjoy browsing these amazing sites.

Amie

A new Chalmers

Yes, there is a new Chalmers coming. We are excited and scared and happy and nervous all at the same time. Adding another member to our family was something we really wanted to do but it being our third we were not innocent of the resposbilities and the drastic changes that a baby brings. So I've been hesitant to jump up and down for joy, not to say that I'm not very excited to meet the next member of our family and can't wait to hold him/her in my arms. Isn't life like that, so many things are hard and yet joyful all at once. I'm enjoying every minute of life right now, with out a new born. With the other two I could not wait for the day they came and all the days in between were just days waiting. This time, I'm savouring every full night sleep, every time we go out and the kids play and I can talk with my friends and I don't have a baby to feed or change or sooth. Yes, life is going to look a whole lot different...not bad different, but different. Its like the months before I got married and I was so wanting the day to come I couldn't think of anything else. Everyone said, "Amie enjoy your last days of being single." Not that they didn't want me to get married, but they knew what I didn't, that life looks very different once you are married and there's no going back.
I've been really sick this first trimester. Pretty much useless. Jon has been so patient and helpful. Its hard to explain to the kids that I'm sick because of the baby.
Anyways, for anyone who wanted to know, We're having Number 3.
blessings
AMIE

God has been so good to me. Jon has been away from us so much in the last four months (maybe five). God has been so faithful to keep my spirit up, to give me the encouragement I need just in time, to give me patience (most of the time). I look back and think, how did I get through that. I would have never imagined myself capable of being alone with the kids so much and still being sane. And not just sane but the most joyful and hopeful I've felt in a long time. As I contemplate this seemingly unnatural peace and joy I can only see God's hand. 1Peter 2.9 came to my mind last night. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." For you this might not seem to fit with what I'm talking about but for me it totally does. It says to me that, I'm God's for the purpose of His praise. All the good, all the trials and peace in them make me remember I am God's and I praise him for it. All I have, physical and spiritual, all I am, is because of Him who has call me.
Thank you Father.

A clean house

Lately my pleasure has been in keeping my house clean. In the past this joy has come and gone and so I don't know if this is just a phase or the beginning of something new for me. I just seem to have to motivation and organization to stay on top of most of the house. I am enjoying keeping things in order. I have to admit to myself that I have always loved order. Not just in my surrounding but in a perdictable day and so on. (something I inherited from my mother)
I can't believe the way it has helped me be a better mother and wife. I think its more my adittude. In the sense that if I am willing to serve my family by keeping the house clean I will be more likely to serve them in other ways. Looking at the people around me and their needs instead of being stuck on myself and my needs. Giving feels so much better than taking. I have felt so much love from my husband the last few days.(he's only been home a few days).
My moto is "No excuses" Just get up and do it. I don't know how long this motivation will last but I'm going to cease this God given blessing now and maybe I'll be able to make something of it.
Lord, I want all I do and say to point those around me, back to You. Maybe my service to my family will show my children what it means to love as Christ did. Laying down his life me.

Off to bed now.

God's blessings

Just sitting here on a windy Monday afternoon. Both the kids are sleeping and I have nothing to do. Well there is always something to do I guess. Nothing I want to do.
Jon is gone again for the week. God is so good to keep me going. Keep him going too. Its just as hard for Jon as it is for me. He really dislikes being away from home. I wish there was a way for me to make money magicly appear so that he wouldn't have to be gone all week for the whole summer. God is providing for us. I just have to trust that he knows the best for us, even when it doesn't look like the best at the time.
I found a nice wading pool and some toys for the kids at a garage sale the other day. There was a really nice bunk bed set there too, but I didn't have the money to get it. So I left it. It was actally my girlfriend's garage sale and she phoned me and suggested that I have the beds in exchange for teaching her kids guitar. I assured her that I was not a professional and had limited knowledge, but she was confindent that a little would go a long way, so I agreed. So now I have bunk bed! Elijah was not very happy that they would go in Grace's room. Now I have to get them together some how. It might be a bit before that gets done. Anyways, see God provided again. Even things we don't exactly need but just want. Wow how blessed are we!
So that's all I have to say. Really nothing else going on. Going camping this week with the kids and Cheri. Jack, Joelle and Jon are hopefully joining us on the weekend. So that will be fun for everyone. It will be nice to get away from the house for a little break.
Ta Ta For Now.

Don't waste your life!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKNFbZa9cH4

I hope this can be as much of an encouragment to you as it was to me.
Blessings

wasting

Am I wasting this life I've been given? What would a "waste" look like? This is so simple. I don't want to make it seem more profound than it is. Christ asks me to value Him above all else. Actually, I don't think He's actaully asking me to, He's expecting me too, because valuing anything above Him is putting my affection on the lesser. He is most valuable, He is most worth, He alone gives worth to everthing. (Col. 1.17)So am I wasting my life? Yes. Everyday I turn to milk when I could have the meat. Everyday I live off waffers that disappear as soon as they have been comsumed when i could drink the living water and never thrist again. All that energry given to nothing, given to things, and Christ stands forgive me everytime I chose the "other" over Him. Forgive me Father? Grace unmeasured. The knowledge of my idolatry and your grace dispite it, make me praise you all the more.
Crown Him with many crowns, The lamb apon the throne.
Thank you for sending your Son for the sin you knew I would commit.
Praise the Lord, oh my sould and all that is within me, praise His holy name!

Christmas tree

Well i gave in this year and bought a cheap fake Christmas tree. I'm actually amazed at the many advantages to having a fake Christmas tree (FCT). I will list them for you
1. no pine needles in the rug
2. Sturdy bows to hold ordiments
3. Your fingers don't hurt after decorating. the FCT doesn't poke the way real pine needles do. And you don't have sap all over your hands.
4. NO WATERING!
5. Basically no fire hazard. I mean anything can burn but a dry light wood seem more likely to go up in flames.
6. Pre-lite. This was another one of those great ideas that has changed everything.
7. And though I did not buy the best FCT it looks as good or better than some of the real trees Jon and I have purchased in the past.
8. Don't have to pull it down right away after Christmas. I could potential leave the thing in the living room until July and we'd still have a nice tree.
9....I wanted to make it to 10 but I've run out of things to say about my FCT.

The one down side is no Real Christmas tree smell!
We've already had one Christmas with my parents before they moved back East. Elijah was pretty excited about that. Oh and we had our Koop Christmas. So only two more to go and we'll have to season over with. That sounds like I want it over with...I don't.
We were making ordments for the grandparents the other day and Elijah said, "Grandpa is going to love this." Then he said, "Papa is going to love this too." And I said, "I know they will!" Then we made cookies for our neighbours and friends and he said, "The big boy next door is going to love his cookie." and " our volleyball friends are going to love their cookies" and I said, "yes they are!'
So if anyone is reading this and you receive a gift from Elijah this Christmas, tell him that you love it.
So that's about all I have to say. I should get to bed so I'm rested to for tomorrow. Busy, busy, busy.
Oh and if you are reading this and you live is Caronport or MooseJaw come out Sunday Dec. 9th at 7:00 to the Alliance church. Terry Smith and I are leading worship at the young adults worship event. I don't know the official name of the evening, but it happens once a month and it looks to be fun.
good night all!

its been a while

I've gotten into this FAcebook thing and its hard to do the blog and the facebook, but I don't want to leave my blog for good, so I've come back today so refresh it.
Well, Caronport is turning out to be a very nice place. I'm enjoying having family close. Christine, my sister-in-law is here with her family and we ahve been able to spend some time together. Also nice for the kids to spend time together, since they are moving next year and who knows where we will end up. My other sister-in-law is here also. She is in college and I love to hear the excitment she has. Reminds me of the great years I spent in Caronport as a student. She's great o come over and just hang out, or babysit.
Jon is playing volleyball. Its a job basically. He's in the gym three hours a day, plus team meeting, and team time (they hang out together to bond) and then they are gone every weekend. I'm excited for him because i know he loves it. I'm always telling him to enjoy himself because I don't want to be alone with the kids if he's not having any fun.
I'll admit I've had my days that I've questioned whether this was the right decision for us (him playing volleyball), I've felt alone, and overwhelmed by the kids. But I'm trying my best to take life as it comes to me, make the most of it, and know that God's will is bigger and better than my own. I'd rather Jon be playing volleyball than working some silly job that he hates. Atleast when he goes out the door I know he's happy. I can always go over to the gym and watch them practice. The kids and I do that quite often actaully. They love it. the guys are all so nice to them. Grace love to collect all the balls. and Elijah likes to play on the bleachers.
Still trying to find our place in a church. A good friend of mine, who goes to the church we've pretty much settled on does worship and has asked me to help once in a while. I hope that works out. I need to invest in something, or I become purposless. ( is that a word)
So that's life right now. We're happy, God is providing for all our needs and ofcourse still teaching me how to become more like Him.

this girls got talent

Found this on YouTube just now, and had to share it with you. What an amazing voice. I guess she posts every sunday and her songs are amazing. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjMRf4egAyA

Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Just finished "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" by Thomas Hardy. very good book. Written during a very interesting time in Europe's history, when the Evangelicals were gaining strength and titles and religion were beginning to lose strength especially among the educated. Tess's story is a tragedy. At times I felt like I could bare it anymore, but Hardy had made her such a lovable heroine that I couldn't but it down. The books subtitle is "A Pure Woman". Which is many ways she was night. But this was mostly by means out of her control. In all other ways she was a "pure" woman. Faithful, honest, hardworking, valiant, etc... I wonder if Hardy was pointing his figure at the church for writing off those of unfortunate circumstance. Or, what he perceived as their inability to be flexible. Showing what he felt where the wrongs with the Letter of the Law. It is fairly sinicle towards the evangelical movement. He writes alot of it up to emotional conversions with little weight and as I said perviously, rigid, unforgiving, law.
Tess's story ends in the only way approperiate for her time. She is caught between two "sins" with no way out but her demise.
Overall I really enjoyed the story. He rambled a bit at times, but I just skimmed over the landscape descriptions. I really enjoyed the detail he payed to the life and ways of life. Like the back sleeve adequately says, "Hardy poured all of his profound empathy for both humanity and the rhythms of natural life..."
Mom tells me there was a mini series made on the book, so I'm looking forward to looking that up.
I would recommend this book.

New, New, New

So we've moved into our new digs. Loving the trailer. The only two rooms that feel squishy are the kitchen and the bathroom. Other than that we are sailing with lots of room. We've had a good week to get settled in. We were so tired after the move that its taken this long to recover. Next week starting Monday, though, Jon starts volleyball and all the students come and life immediately gets busy. Its going to take some determination on my part to figure out how to do this family and the volleyball together with grace. I'm really praying God puts some creative ideas, abundance of patience and grace to give110% to my husband and kids. I know this is what God has asked us to do, School and Volleyball, so I want to trust He has a plan to make it work. All I can do it rely on Him in all things. Like Jim Elliot said, "He is no fool who gives up what he can not keep to gain what he can not lose." I'm giving up my husband, my supposed stability, all the other stuff in life I want control of, so that I can lean completely on Christ and gain eternity, and true joy in Him.
All things for Christ.

Packing...Again

We packed up dad and moved him at the beginning of July and now we are packing ourselves up. Too much packing for one summer. I am not motivated at all. The task a head looks too large and overwhelming. I packed some boxes today, but I kinda held out for tomorrow. Jon will be able to help and I'm hoping that we can motivate each other. With both of us working our every morning, it makes for a late start to the day, but I don't wan to give it up. When we get to Caronport Jon will move his workout to later on in the day. Anyways, I don't even know which room to attack tomorrow. Jon wants to do his books and office, so maybe I'll help him there...if he'll let me. I hope we have enough storage room in the trailer. I'm getting a little worried about that. Jack and Cheri have offered that we store some stuff at their place for the year.
Right now I'm too exhausted to think about it anymore. I'm going to hope there is something decent on TV and plunk myself down in front of the brain sucking thing. I don't care if it eats my grey matter tongiht...I'm too tired to care.

Running

I've started jogging. I can't believe I can actaully do it. Its amazing what your body can do if you decide to push it. I'm excited to get better and run further. Its a nice change, and I new way to push myself. After I ran yesterday I was not as sore as I had been before.
Anyways, God has given us amazing body. I want to use my body to give Him glory. Even this running has pointed to back to God. He really is in all things, if we are looking.

Lord give me patience

Lord give me patience to be in the days and things infront of me now. So not being always waiting for what will come next. But to be obedient and honour You in the moments I have been given.
All things for Your glory

A 4 mile walk and the good John Piper

Yes, I walked 4 miles today. Kept up a good pace. forgot to take my drink of water before I left so i was pretty thristy by the time I got home. It feels so good to accomplish a good walk. I listened to one of John Piper's sermons in a series on marriage he did this year. It was called Forgive and Forbearance. So good. Its so amazing how he works the work of Chirst into every sermon. What hit me the most? Well I think if I were to choose one thing it would be that, we must live with the cross formost in our minds, because it will change everything. He said something like, the day he leaves the cross to look or focus on something else Noel (his wife) suffers. Like, if I could only remember what I have been forgiven of, if I could only seek to always live the example of Chirst, than my marriage would always glorify God. He admitted that of course this is impossible because we are not made prefect yet, but it is the standard Chirst asks of us to be reaching towards.
Oh and the other thing was to always remember that I am Holy, Chosen and Loved!
Okay got to go. Got to go spend some time with my husband!

Pain

Pain. I'm am feeling alot of pain. The last two days I have been having my chest pain again. I don't know what I'm eating that could trigger it. Its just so intense. I really need to get to the bottom of it, because I just don't know when it will start up. I read this verse in my devotions yesterday,

Yet, You are He who brought me forth from the womb

You made me trust when upon my mother's breast

Upon You I was cast from birth

You have been my God from my mother's womb.

Psalm 22.9,10

Every breath I have taken has been given to me by His hand. My life has always been relient whole on Him. From my birth to my death and each day in between. So even this I can carry because it is from Him. In all things may He be glorified.

Packing

We have come to Melfort to help Dad pack up the house and move him into the apartment they are going to rent for a while. The apartment is considerably smaller than the house and this has required that we down-size the belongs of my parents. We are having a very big garage sale. I guess Melfort people do garage sales, thursday, firday, saturday. Crazy I know, but i guess what ever works. We are doing it Thursday friday evening and all day saturday. Hope we can make a little bit of money for Dad.

So I'm hopfully learning how to pack now so that when I have to do it to my stuff at the end of the summer, I'll have some idea of what I'm doing.

Jon is outside cutting the grass, what a nice guy, cutting his father-lin-law's grass. Boys did I hit the jack-pot when I fell in love with him!

Okay well that's what's going on at the Chalmers'.

Hoping to take a road trip out the Calgary this month some time. I have my doubts whether that will happen but who knows I may be surprised!

write a song

So, I was telling Jon yesterday that I wanted to write a song. Being the very supportive husband that he is, he began to think up ideas for me. One of these inspiring thoughts was, "the Simpson's never grow up...that would be a great line Amie, you've got to use that." I ask you how int he world am I going to put that into a song? Jon thought it was very porfound though. Funny guy!
I think that when I first starting writing I was just doing it because it was so natural. Now it seems like when I go to write a song I have to work so hard to get my words out. I want to say something so badly but I can't find it. I wonder if I wouldn't have this problem if I had never made my first record. Like now there is some kind of pressure. Maybe I just have to rediscover the joy of writing for its own sake.
I've been learning so much about the Soveriegnty of God lately and love the thought that God holds all things in His hands, and love how the bible just makes so much more sense with God at the center instead of me. So I would love to write about that but to get my thoughts together seems impossible.
Well, I guess if I'm going to say I believe all things are in God's hands then I should believe that if He has a song for me I'll get it some time. And if not...well I guess I'll be thankful for all the other things He has blessed me with.

recent project

I love going to quilting shops and looking at all the beautiful fabric. When I find something I really like I buy a little piece. So I had found these fabrics in different places and decided it was time to use them. So this little bag was created. I had no idea what the bag was going to look like when I started but luckily it all worked out. I even figured out how to line it. I love creating things. Jon is laughing because I have too many bags and this is the second one I have made in the last month. I think I'm going to make some book marks with the scraps I have left over.

Actually my original plan was to cover my bible with the blue fabric but I decided against that. i don't have a hard cover and I thought it would probably just fall off of it all the time.

so that's it...I can't think of anything else to say.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

I have been reading a non-fictional book in the evening and grew tired of its weight (not physical weight) and yesterday I read this classic by one of my favorite authors. What a joy Jane Austen's works bring me. I love the style of laugugue, the customs and the behaviours of the time in which she wrote.
Northanger Abbey is believed to be her earliest work although it was not publish until after her dealth in Decemeber 1817. In it she uses her favorite theme, mainly, the danger of imagination uncontrolled by reason. As the author of the introduction so adiquitely says, "The heroine's, Catherine Morland, folly lies not in indulging a taste for meladromatic fiction but in imposing it value on the life around her." Actually, Jane Austen evidently had a distaste for the "melodramatic" fiction of her time. And it is thought that is novel was a reaction to it. The Heroine is by no means prefect and although the novel ends well for the heroine and hero, there is something very undramatic about the conclusion. This disappointed me for a while, but in reading some reviews and understanding more the intentions of the author I now value the work in greater degree.
I do not claim to be an expert on Jane Austen or hre work, but my humble observation is that she must have been a modest person herself to prefere the heroine whose life is believable and whose character is not flawless. As said ealier she continued in many of her novels to return to the theme of being controlled by reason. The characters in her novels that are to be disliked usually are without reason. Fluster, chattering, vain, overly imaginative women who have little time to think rationally.
Something I enjoy about her work is the timelessness of it. Although written almost 200 years ago, her characters have resinence with me. For example how are woman falls in love seems to have changed little. What will humble a man, the hurt that can be afflicted by words, the jealousy, the gossip, the enjoyment of nature, and more. The human race changes so little. I guess that why the bible is still so relavent today. "There is nothing new under the sun"
Overall I would recommend this book as a delightful read. Not a challenging read in anyway. Although is does challenge ones vocabulary at times.

Aways Learning

I have started reading "Desiring God' again and am amazed at how little I know about this God I serve and love. One of Piper's assertions is that God is Supremely Sovereign. Which I believe but to really believe this you have to believe that God has purposed everything. That nothing can stop His plans and will.

"God says, ' My counsel will stand and I will accomplish all my prupose.' Therefore Job says, 'No purpose of your can be thwarted.' His purposes encompass all things, including sin. Thus the crucifixtion of Chirst was the will of God, even though it was the greatest sin ever committed. 'The lot is cast i the lap, but every decision is from the Lord.(proverbs 16.33)' "

So that's a lot to swollow. This next quote kinda clarified things for me. "How can God be happy and decree calamity? Consider that he has the capacity to view the world through two lenses. Through the narrow one hei s greived and angered at sin and pain. Throught the wide one he sees evil in relation to its eternal purposes. Reality is like a mosaic. The parts may be ugly in themselves, but the whole is beautiful." Piper's main assertion is,

"The chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy himself forever."

It would be unrighteous of God to value anything more than what is supremely good, whick of course is Himself. So if God plans all of history, the good and bad, and values himself above all, all of history must be good from the view point of an all-knowing and all-righteous God.

So, when I look at my life I feel so much more hope. I can see in the past how God has put things together in my life and how he has asked me to be pained at times. And all this ulitmately brought Him glory...the story of my life is obviously still playing out, but I can rest in the assurance that God would not let my life be wasted because he longs for His own glory through all things. I can only pray that in death and life I can point to Him more and more. ( actually i don't have to hope because He will make it happen whether I want to or not)
I mean the death and resurrection of His son is the first and foremost moment in history that I must glorify God for in this life time.
So I will read on and hopefully learn more about as Piper as, "the cheif end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever."
I hope this hasn't been too confusing. Obviously I don't have all my thoughts together. But as I am reminded regularly, life is a journey and to God be the glory for the grace to grow and learn in progressions.

Getting There

Being here at Mom and Dad's has made me realize how much more confident I have become as a parent. I remember being here on past occasions and feeling lost with out my schedule, not wanting to go alone places with the kids, needing them to have thier nap at regular times. But this time I feel so much more relaxed. Elijah has become so much easier to take places, and Grace, well she's a 18 month old that wants to touch everything, but I guess I've just come to grips with the fact. I wish I had given myself more time to grow. I tend to think I have to be good at something right away, and if I'm not I get frustrated, but its taken me 3 years to get to this point. I got to let myself be a work in progress. So now as I look at the parts of my life that aren't complete or perfect I need to be patient. Take a deep breath Amie, there are days and months to come!

Reading

As I said recently I'm deciding to read more. I've just picked up this book. Its about, as far as I can tell, how we live with different ethnic groups and how we see and define ourselves by our ethnicity or not. I love the topic, I love her insights. I don't love the main character, who is a self-absorbed art professor, who neglects his wife, and enjoys looking at other women. There are actually two families that are profiled in this book, one, the family of the main character. They are loud, disorganized, combative with their words and disjointed. The other of the rival art professor, whose family is Christian, relaxed, welcoming, and enjoy each other. (Unfortunately most of the novel so far is given to the first.) The first has a white father and black mother and the second family is wholly black. Anyways, the main character's wife, whom is black, has a lot of ideas about how people look at her and how is is expected to act in return. Sometimes she is right and other times she is wrong. Their youngest son was decided, that although the family lives in a small college town outside Boston, he speaks ghetto, and dresses ghetto, and believes everyone is looking at him negatively. Anyways, all that is very intreaging to me and I want to see if especially and mother and son are freed from their some times self imposed stereo-types. I have one other problem with the book though. The characters swear a lot. In movies this doesn't bother me so much, but when you are reading a book, you have to say the words and I'm not really comfortable with that....so I don't know whether to put it down or not. All this reminds me why I love to read literature from the 1800's - they can introduce revolutionary ideas in elegant under the radar kind of ways. I have a Jane Austen novel waiting for me to read...so should I put this one down for Jane or not. I don't know...I really want to see where she is going with the racial thing.

Okay I've probably bored you all to death...

will it happen?

Not if I have anything to do with it. My son will do nothing that is suggested to him. No that's not true he will willing eat anything with a sugar value over 90%. But peeing on the potty or riding a bike...not going to happen. He got on because we put Grace on and he was upset because she was on the bike he won't ride. Jon thought he could push him for our walk today, but down the road a bit he decided that he had had enough and got off and refused to get back on. Jon, wanting him to enjoy his bike, thought that if he pushed the bike on our walk he might eventually want to get back on, but no, Jon push, carried and rode the bike for the whole walk, Elijah refusing with every suggestion, that he did not want to ride his bike. What a funny kid. We really have just learned that if its not important we can't push him to do it. Jon even bought him a horn for his bike, but no enticing will do.

Amie and Liz

Love this picture. 1994. New Years eve. We are looking good. I think I've got red long underwear on with my dad's work overalls. Those were the days. I wish I could remember this moment. its nice to have the picture, is confirms that it actually happened. 1994 was the winter before I went to Equador. I probably was fund raising at the time and had my head full of the big things I imaged were to come that coming summer. Ah, to be 15 again. No, I take that back. I definitly don't want to be 15 again.

anyways, I love you Liz. take care of those two boys of yours, I'm coming to see them soon.

Church...

...was empty today. A lot of people were away. Infact my kids were the only ones there. Which kinda sucks because everyone knew it was Elijah making all the noise. I made the mistake of giving Elijah some skittles during the worship. He could not sit still after that. My mistake! Mom came and spoke about her walk. She really challenged me to rethink the amount I give to the unfortunate in the world. It is easy for me to make excuses about buying things, when I really know that money is not mine to spend on whatever my heart desires.

Out little church is very good at giving finacially. We support a whole array of missionaries and they pay us way more than they should be able to for a church of their size. No, giving is definitly not a problem at our little church.

I

Tired/Spring (couldn't decided which to go with)

I'm tired. I've been staying up too late. I need to go to bed at 10:00pm or a few nights of 11:00-12:00 I'm a reck.

the weather has been really nice lately and it was been nice to get the kids outside more often. I love the spring. I really like the smells, the mud, the lack of snow, and the warm weather that doesn't yet require shorts or a heavy coat. Yes, spring and Fall would have to be my favorite seasons of the year.

Mom is coming to the church tomorrow. I hope someone is there to hear her. She doesn't care though, as long as she can tell someone. She is very humble but excited about the whole thing.

I know she can do it. Its amazing how much she has done already. I always think, even just thinking up the idea of walking that far and being willing to do it is more than I would have ever done. I guess that's why god asked her to do it.

Okay like I said I'm tired and 10:00pm is rolling around, so I'm going to go andhit the sack.

tomorrow is Sunday. Big day for the Chalmers family. Lots to do.

We and they did good!

We went to town today after Mom and Dad left at noon. Needed our food for the week. Anyways, I would say it was the best trip to town we have ever had. There was no screaming in the check out line in Extra foods, there was no screaming when the kids were told they could not have something at Walmart. I only changed one dirty diaper, and to top it off the kids food was not wasted at DQ. They ate well, they sat well, and they behaved well. We even enjoyed their company! Now that sounds awlful, but I'm hoping that on occasion, any of my readers with children betweent he ages of 1year to 3 years old, may understand. I was even strong enough to order a salad at DQ instead of a burger. And I enjoyed it. Their honey mustard dressing it very good! So overall, it was a excellent trip to town that I will relish for months to come, since likely it will be the last for months to come. :)

Went for a walk!

As you can tell these pictures are not of our walk. But I thought I had to satisfy the needs of the grandparents and greatgrandparents that come to this page just to cast a loving eye on their beloved distant grandchildren! (that was a mouth full) Yes, she is a wee beauty!

So we (Elijah, Grace and I) went for a walk today after lunch. Elijah is always asking, all day long to go outside, so we went. I dressed them all up in their new rain/mud protective gear and we were off. Grace actually walked all the way to the park. First time for that. I can't believe she is already 18 months old. She took three or four face plants, but manged to keep her face out of the puddles and mud. It did get up her coat though and I realized when we got home that her sweater and shirt were wet. Good thing it wasn't too cold out. Elijah has to take his shovel(snow shovel) with him when ever we go for a walk. He is so funny with his obsessions about things. So since there is hardly any snow left he just drags it along and it rattles on the gravel. He throw some water with it, but it was mostly of no use other than he likes to have it in his hands when he is walking.

I'm trying to think of something else important to say...I'm thinking of giving up on "out of Africa" It really hasn't done a good job of keeping my attention. I enjoy learning about the cultures that she lives with, but that isn't enough to get me through the book. I've now picked up another book about Africa called, "African Diary" by Bill Bryson. I like what I have read so far. Its a very short read. Only 50 some pages, so that shouldn't be hard to get through.

I'm trying to read some secular works and I'm think maybe that's what I'm finding hard, I don't know. I just haven't found anything that has captured my imagination.

Jon is at the school gym for Youth tonight. He is so patient and giving to do that work. I could never spend three hours in a gym with a bunch of teens.

Okay I did the work and downloaded the pictures Jon took of the kids when we went for our walk. I'll only put the one of Elijah on becuase it takes so long to upload these pictures and I've already spent too much time putting the other ones on.

So have a good day, night, afternoon, morning, nap, whatever and...that's all for now.

I can't believe I forgot to rotate this picture. Sorry about that. You'll just have to tilt your head to the left!

Amazing Grace

Have you heard about this movie? I was listening to a John Piper sermon during my work out this morning and he made reference to it. I guess it is about William Booth, the man who worked for 30 years in the British Parliament to end slave trade. The Bill was voted down 11 times. I really want to see it. Actually, Jon and I got invited to a free previewing of it but its in the middle of the day and in Saskatoon, so there is really no way of pulling that off. So Jon has said he will take me later. Not to be a pessimist, but we never do those sorts of things even when we do have the best of intentions. (Maybe now that I've said that Jon will take it as a challenge to actually go to the movie. He's very competitive.)
This sermon I was listening to was so good. I need to listen to it again. You know it is so nice to be able to listen to these great preachers when ever I want but I end up getting convicted of something different in my life everyday, and I don't have time to process anything. Its a little overwhelming. I should just listen to the same sermon two days in a row. I need to write notes when I'm listening because it is so hard to remember all the great things that they say, but that's not really possible when I'm working out.

Not a good combo

This

Plus This

Do not not make a good match.

I unplugged my vacuum in two different places (on the vacuum) today. You should have seen the major fur ball I got out of the hose. Disgusting! Enough for me to want to get ride of the...which do you think I'm going to say. I think I would get rid of both of them some days!

I'm listening to John Mayer , "Stop this train" . I love this song. I also love "Belief" and "Waiting on the World to change" Infact I am looping those very three songs on my ipod right now. Don't you love a song that has a great groove, great melody, words that say something significant, and a sweet voice to boot!?!

Okay I'm going to pull out a Scott here and give you my, of late, play list

1. Those three John Mayer songs I just mentioned.

2. Dave Matthews Band " Mother Father" and "Dreams of Our Fathers"

3. Norah Jones "Toes" (Feels Like Home)

4. Damian Rice "Cannonball" (o)

5. Coldplay "The Hardest Part" (x&y)

6. Mary J. Blige & U2 "One" (The Breakthrough)

7. The Fray "How to save a life" "She Is" (How to Save a Life)

8. Fernando Ortega "Pass Me Not" "When all Thy Mercies" "Give Me Jesus" (Hymns of Worship)

9. U2 "Sweetest thing" "Grace" "Yahweh" "Where the Streets Have No Name" "With or Without you" Basiclly anything of theirs I'll listen to any time.

I love you Uncle Scott

Yes, I think Gracie has fallen in love with her uncle Scott. We had such a nice time with him when he was up our way a while back. ( yes, I know I'm a little late posting these pictures)

We had God Talk today (as we do every Wednesday) and I quickly baked up some cookies for the youth just before they came over. Actually I was scooping them on to the sheet when they walked in. Miranda looked at the cookies and said, "your making us cookies, you make the best cookies. But you know what's funny, Jon was just complaining the other day that you never make him cookies anymore." and I said, "that is true and I expect you guys to eat all these cookies so there are none left." She thought that was pretty funny. I'm not deliberately depriving Jon of cookies to be mean, I've just decided for my health and his we don't need cookies in the house as much as we used to. I can kinda go crazy on the cookie baking and eating if I don't stay on top of it. So the long and the short of it is the youth loved their warm oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and ate them all. Actually I saved six or so for Jon!

After Jon did the devotional with the youth they went out side and had a snow ball fight. I took the kids out after awhile and Elijah just loved it. The boys where throwing balls at Jordan's truck ( he circled the block a few times) and Elijah thought that was just great , but I think we will have to explain eventually that you can't throw snowballs at just any old car or truck that goes by. He even thought it was funny when the boys would throw snow balls at him. It was such a nice day today. Jon's 7" snow man in the front yard is facing South and the front side of it has been melting off these past few days. He's getting skinner everyday. Jon wants to see how long he will last. Darline put ears and a nose on him this afternoon. Now he looks even more demented.

" I think things would be a lot different if we had to throw all of our own garbage in our own backyars then people wouldn't be generating a tonne every year."

-Kyle Glover

That quote really put into words something that I had been feeling for a while. Another way that I have decided to stop contributing to landfills and contamination the earth and water is by using enviromentally safe cleaning products. I saw a sagment of a talk show a while ago about this and I decided this was the way to go. Not only does this safe the enviroment, but it make the house safe for my kids ( huge number of child dealths are attributed to pisionings.) and it is way cheaper.

Where are some basic cleaning recipies. Once these are made up you can store them and use until finished. (So you don't have to make up the recipe everytime you clean)

Tub and Sink Cleaner

1 2/3 cups Baking soda

1/2 cup pure liquid soap

Dilute with 1/2 cup water

Add 2 Tablespoons vinegar last.

Stir until lumps are gone.

Put into a container and keep lip on because it will dry out. Shake before each use.

All-purpose cleaner

1/4 cup baking soda

1/2 cup vinegar

try this one in a spray bottle

Bathroom mold cleaner

1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide

1 cup water

Put in spray bottle. Spray and leave to dry one hour. Rinse.

Carpet Shampoo

Sprinkle cornstarch liberally. Wait 20 mins and vacuum

Rust Remover

Sprinkle some salt directly onto rust. Squeeze lime over rust until well soaked. Leave for three minutes or so and scrub off with lime rind.

Anyways, those are just a few of the ones that I have found. If anyone knows any others I'd love to have them.

Lets be responsible with the earth God gave us.

Feeling the love

Yes, yes indeed, I have been feeling the love lately. Its like my family has been on stand still for the last few years and suddenly we are all chatting and loving talking again. It sucks that all of you are so far away. I'm just glad that we are not letting that stop the love from flowing. I wish i had that picture of us all at Grandma's one of those years we had thanksgiving there and went for a walk after our meal. We are all goofy looking teenagers. Good times. One day I'll meet the kids, see the houses and just get to sit down and talk again (face to face) Anyways, until then, love you.

Big weekend

Well, yes, this was a very busy crazy weekend. We lost our power for about 24 hours on thursay/friday. This kinda took us off guard. I always like an adventure and I tried my best to keep up the family's spirits. We were getting really cold by 12:00 noon on friday. (We had to leave for YQ though and then it came on two hours later). We did get a little figity at times. The evening took a little more creativity. Jon and I were able to spend some time talking and just enjoying each other company. I didn't want Grace to get cold in the night so I layered on the clothes and was in her room often trying to keep the blankets on us. Elijah we took to bed with us. He can sleep with us but Grace doesn't do as well in our bed. We actually slept in longer that day than we have in a long time. Over all it was a good reminder that we are way too dependent on things out side ourselves. It made me more upset that I could get the house warm because I rely on some else to do it. But we made it , the kids loved the flash lights and now we know we can go without power for a long time.
As I said we went to Youth Quake in Caronport with our youth group. Dropped the kids off in Swift Current with Jon's parents and then went on the Caronport. The kickoff skit was so good. The best we've seen in a long time. The kids seemed to like the whole weekend and they made losts of friends. The speaker was so funny and I hope got a good message across to the kids. Unfortunately my girls ( not all of them) decided to not sleep for the whole weekend. The first night was a little rough. I got 2 1/2 hours all together, but the second night I got five hours. I got in bed at 3:00am both nights but the second night I was able to sleep in until 9:00 am. Anyways, I decided that it was only a few days, it was a weekend for them, not me and so I put on my best face and told them i loved them, and a bad night sleep won't change that for the world.
I got to see Jason and we had two good visits. I always think that he will be too busy for me, but when i see him, he's always, just my cousin who still loves me. As always he encouraged me to start song writing again. Its funny how when someone you resepect tells you you can do something, you suddendly beleive them, even though for months now I've been thinking I'll never write another song. Words of affirmation are so important. Thinking about that made me decide to be intentional about saying postive things to my own kids and the youth.
The concert they put on was so good. I wanted to cry so many time because I just love Jason so much, and when I see someone I love doing what God created them to do, it just moves me so much. It's like listening to Joshua talk about his training and awards, and watching Jon play volleyball or deliver a really great sermon, or Scott play his guitar, or design something just so orginal and unique. They (Downhere) have perfected their craft. I remember listening to Jason play when we were younger. I'd think, there is no way that God won't use this one day, he's going to be playing music for thousands of people one day.
Anyways, we got home safe but tired. I'm looking forward to getting back into my routine.

my new shoes

I got a new pair of shoes. They are pretty sweet. I had a paor of high-tops when i was younger and my Dad always played basketball as a teenager with the high-tops. I'm feeling pretty trendy with my new shoes.
Still at mom and Dad's house, so still enjoying the high speed.
Uncle Scott bought Elijah a car road map thingy, for his birthday. They are enjoying it on the floor right now. Jon is currently having a nap and Grace is (as always) playing with the telephone.

At mom and Dad's house at this moment. They have high speed and I need to take advantage. So here I am.
We missed the church Valentine's Day dinner and fun night thingy. I hope they had fun, I'm sure they did, no hoping even needed. Those Kelfield folk know how to have a good time.
I'm reading a book called "Out of Africa". Yes I believe there is a movie but I've never seen it. I have wanted to go to Africa for as long as I can remember but have read so little about it. She, the author, gives such an interesting perceptive of the people, the terrain, and the wild life. I've only gotten through part one but I'm hooked. I've decided to read books that are not neccassarily "christian" per say. But instead those books that are a part of a well verse reader. Other books that I plan to read this year are Zadie Smith - On Beauty , Jill Lepore - New York burning, Henry Louis Gates Jr. - Coloure People. Actually all these books are about human rights. I also have tried to read Frasis Schaffer- "How should we then live" but have never gotten through it. So I hope to get to that this year too.
I'll keep you up date on Out of Africa and give you my finally review.

Help me out horticulturalists

okay this first picture is of my Africian Violet. I got is a long time ago. The original growth died because, I've been told, I shoule not have watered the plant from the top. So now I have this new growth that is growing at a very slow pace and I'm watering it from the bottom. I mean I keep water in the plate it sits in.

The second picture is of an unknown plant. I mean I know the plant, but I don't know what is called or what kind of loving it needs. So, I've just been keeping it watered. When I bought it, it had lots of little flowers all over it. When those died, the steam they were on eventually died and so I trimmed them off. I don't know if that was the right thing to do or not, but it seem wealthy. I guess I'll just wait and see if it blooms again some time. If I haven't killed it before it gets the chance.

I really wish I knew more about plants. Hopefully that will come with time. Grandma O. I want your feedback here!

Basketball game

We went to watch daddy coach a basketball game. Elijah enjoyed it because I bribed him into being good with candy. anyways the kids did surprisingly well and Jon's team won the game so we called the evening a success!

Grace's picture is just a cute (snotty nose) one!

Annual meeting tomorrow night at the church. I'm looking forward to that. It's a good time to regroup and get a feel for where we are as a body. I guess I always enjoy getting together with everyone.

Other than that not a lot else is going on. I wanted to watch the newest episode of LOST tonight but it was on at 7:00pm and the kids were still awake and we have a rule that we don't watch TV until the kids go to bed, so they have out attention and not the boob-tube. :)

Sorry its been so long since I blogged.

Hey I know one more exciting thing...Scott is coming to Mom and Dad's house next week and we get to go see him...if that's not exciting I don't know what is!

Over-and-out

Just sitting on the counter (other wise forbided space) enjoying a wholesome bowl of "fruityO's" (cheep version of fruit-loops). Could life get any better?

Today is Jonathan birthday. He's 26! Getting old. What can I say that will make him look really good...ummmm...just joking there is lots to say. Not only does he continue to live with me and love me dispute giving him ample reasons not to, he is also the best father around. Jon takes his calling very seriously. He struggles with his own spirit revealed shortcomings, always wanting to become more like Christ, always asking God what else there is to work out for his salvation. Jon longs to see the church God has intrusted to him become fully all that God intends it to be. His heart is heavy and for each member, wanting and praying for their spiritual growth. This is the life of a true man of God. Although there are days that Jon feels phyically, and emotionally burdened by his calling, the other 90 percent of the time he carries it with grace. That's not all but that's all I'm going to say about him. I thank God for his friendship and love. I am very thankful that he was born 26 years ago.

patience

Well, I told everyone that since we got this new camera for Christmas I was going to be posting more pictures and I have not kept my word so far. So here is one of Gracifer(nickname). What a cutie. Honestly, I have the cutest girl in the whole wide world.

Having dialup internet sucks so bad. I think because this new camera takes higher quality pictures it takes forever to uplaod one. I'm waiting.........................and waiting....................and waiting.................like what would actually be so difficult to bring high speed to me..................and waiting....................and waiting.............................Am I so far away from the civilized world that this is a complete impossibility................................and waiting...................................and waiting................................and waiting...................................................................................okay I won't complain anymore............................................honestly I should be timing how long this is taking.......................................................FINALLY!

christmas eve

I haven't put the gifts under the tree all this week because I knew the temptation would be too great for my little guy. But tonight I thought it would be nice to put them under and I was tidying the house anyways, so I did. Elijah came up stairs with Jon to go to bed and immediately saw the gifts...now 45mins later we are still trying to get him to go to sleep. Jon is very patient with him.
I guess that's half the fun of christmas. he doesn't really get the idea that if he goes to sleep the morning will come faster.
Oh well.

Philippians 4.4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: REJOICE!

Let your gentleness be evident to all.

The Lord is near.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me- put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Christmas time is here!

Well, it has been awhile. The real reason being that I dread using my very very slow dial up connection. (Sasktel please stop exploiting the fact that I will in the middle of nowhere so that you can overcharge me and make up for the revenue losses you take by offering great deals to those in the populace, so you can compete with the competition.)

Anyways, the reason I decided to blog today was because I had some pictures to share and I had nothing else to do. (Correction: I could have clean the bathroom, cleaned my stove or mopped the floor, or cleaned up the huge mess Elijah made in the guest bedroom...but who wants to start into that at 9:30pm)

So this first picture is of Grace. We all went to the youth banquet and the kids got into some chocolate, as you can tell. She is so cute. Yes, Scott and Liz that is the shirt you sent her...and I did get all the chocolate out :)

And the second one here is of the Christmas tree at the Chalmers household. Nothing special, but I like it. Sorry the picture is so dark. I've done alot of popcorn and cranberry stringing this year...that's my Christmas tradition. I've been really trying to keep Christmas simple this year. I have the temptation to want to make things complicated but God's always asking me about my motives. It is way too easy for me to make Christmas about some many other than things, rather than Christ. So this simple tree is a reminder to me to make Christmas about Christ. I think people who can have a beautiful Christmas home and Keep Chirst as their focus are amazing. I'm sure there are alot of ppl out there that can do it...Unfortunately for me...my heart is wicked and self absorbed...not to be self abasing or anything!

So ya, the point of all this is to say we are enjoying or Christmas season. We've done some good visiting, and I've been baking, and I've personally been learning alot about myself.

What a girl!

Yes, this is my lady of grace. What more can I say...If you are looking for the secret to the gorgeous hair it's white cheddar kraft dinner. Lovely I know! What a wee beauty I have.

Birthday!

Well it's that time of the year again. I'm 27 this time. Wierd. I still feel like I'm 21. that means my dad is 48. He's going to be 50 soon. I never thought that day would come either. I guess time goes on with or without us. Nothing big happening today...but I don't need Jon to tell me he loves me one day a year because he says it ever day. AAAH! Yes that's sappy but true. Well, what will I do with my first day of being 27? I guess a shower might be a good start, and then maybe I'll do the dishes. Sounds good!

Well, we are back to the grind again. Last week was such a departure from our regular routine. I feel the need for structure agian. I went to the gym this morning, and had a really nice visit with another girl who was also there workingout. I felt like I was losing control of everything in my life because I wasn't starting my day on the right foot. I don't know if anyone understands that. But yes, when I'm not working out and starting my day with a good breakfast I feel very undone, and when I don't do it for weeks at a time I feel very very undone. Anyways, today was the beginning of putting myself back together. Some how the house got completely destroyed this weekend so I have a large cleaning job ahead of my today. but instead of feel defeated before I even start I'm going to decide it is do-able. Like my mom always says, "Just pick one thing up at a time and put it away" Good advice mom.
So off to my day I go...

My prayer

To my children:
I pray that you will grow to know your value. That you prize the treasure that is you. That you find joy in your own uniqueness. That you never demean yourself by wanting to be someone else. That you find contentment in your circumstances, where you live, single or not, school or at home. I pray you have the ability to discern what is good and right. As the people around you speak and live I pray you would know the truth from the lies. And that you would have the courage to live with truth. I pray you would know what a man and woman of God looks like. Humble, servant, with self-respect, honour, responsible, loving and full of grace.

Hey Scott

If you are reading this leave me a comment some time...I'd love to hear your thoughts!
And everyone else just a plug for the coolest guitar playing cat around Scott Orr. Check out his blog at www.scottorrmusic.blogspot.com

Noise (a very different kind!)

Yes, I know I recently titled a blog "noise", but there really was no other appropercaite title.
Have a ever mentioned that we live behind the town Bar? Well we do. the problem being that very often we go to bed to the thumping of very loud music or we are awoken by very loud music in the middle of the night. Take for instance last night. At 2:00 am Elijah came into our room very upset. Ofcourse now awake we could very clearly hear why he was scared, there was annoying thumping music and loud screaming voices come from the Bar. When Grace wake up at 4:00am and I was sitting with her the music continued and when I finally got back into bed at 5:00am it had faded a bit. For my sake I wish ppl were alloyed to smoke in Bars so that they wouldn't go into the bar's back deck, which faces our back yard, and talk very loud, and curse and swear, and listen to their music while they have a drag. So anyways...what can the only pastor in town do...complain and make it look like we are condeming them all to hell? Or just live with it and lay in bed fumming mad? Either way I think we're screwed!
Okay I feel a little better for getting that off my chest.

Sick!

Not fun...we have been sick all week with throwing up and the runs. The only good thing I can think of is that I haven't had to cook. Actually I usually love cooking but I haven't been in the mood and been sick is convient or the reason.
Mom told me to give the kids rice water, but I doubt incredibly that they would ever drink it. I do think it might work if they ever would though. So its been toast, soda crackers, and water. Yummy!
Jon is at a volleyball tournament today. He left the house thinking they would win it all. I love his confidence. He phone and said they had won their first game and were going on to glory. So we'll have to see if his perdictions come true. I really hope so because in three years of coaching he has never won a tournament...poor guy. I wants it so bad.
Well one of the kids is upset at the TV so I'd better go see what is up.

Excitment fills the air !!!!

No we did not run into a lot of money, and we were not given a free trip to Alaska...so what am I so excited about. Well, this coming Feb. at Youth Quake you know who is coming to play? Downhere! And you know what that means? I get to see Jason. (long lost cousin) Yes, yes indeed I am very excited.
Thought you all might want to know how excited I am.

Cold

Burrrrr...it is getting cold. My toes are freezing as I sit here typing. I should run and get my sheep skin slippers...I'm back and my toes are already warming the wool. Toasty!
What does the cold bring to mind??....??....hot chocolate, cold bundled walks, its dark when I wake up and when the kids go to bed, apple crisp, beef stew, knitting, christmas, and cold hands when I'm reading, just to name a few. I'm not complaining. The beginning of winter is wonderful, is by the six month of it that I start feeling down!

Can't see for the TV

I lovingly,( I say that sarcasticly), rented Elijah a movie tonight (Clifford's BIG adventure). Anyways, he loved it. He was laughing and , up off his seat when things got exciting, and then he bitterly cried when the movie was over. I mean he was very, very, very upset about this movie being over. I actually started wondering if this had not been such a bright idea, to let him watch an hour long story on tv. When I got to thinking about it, it upset me how much emotion he was giving to a story, to characters, and pictures. I mean the kid doesn't know any better and he has a hard enough time controlling his emotions at the best of times. Hey that sounds like me...not the crying bitterly because a movie is over, but giving my emotions, time and sometimes energy (if its a really sappy love story all the crying really wears me out) into a plastic box that tells stories. I wonder if God ever looks at me and says, "Man, I wish Amie would invest her energy into something real, like ME!" I guess it really doesn't have to be the TV. It could really be anything that I acknowledge in my life over God. Do I look like a toddler, sitting inches from the TV, eyes afixed on the characters and tears running because the dog lost its owner? How much greater to weep for those around me in pain, or worse the unsaved? How much greater a life would be laughing at the sound of a child, running in feilds created by my King, or giving up everything for the joy set before me? But alot of the time I can't see all that for the perverbial TV.

What do I believe?

This is not going to be very cohesive but I thought that by writing I may be able to put my thoughts in order. Jon and I have recently been faced with the issue of how to interprete the Bible, whose theology is sound, and what makes someone right and others wrong? I guess it all started when I began to read Rob Bell’s book, “Velvet Elvis” He talks about Christianity being a wall of bricks and if one of the bricks is removed than the whole thing falls. He suggests faith should look like a trampoline that flexes and moves. Bell desires to see the church openly discussing the issues of our faith. He says that he affirms to foundational doctrines of our faith such as the trinity, virgin birth and salvation through Christ alone, but also believes that we are only human that the authors of the bible were only human and therefore can never really understand God and consequently need to continue to hash our interpretations of the Word. This made sense to me , in fact I found it relieving to hear someone say it. Just yesterday we had an old dear friend drop in on his way by going home. He had actually been to a conference in the States and one of the speakers had spoke negatively about Rob Bell and his philosophy of interpretation. Our friend pointed out that the above doctrines of our faith can not be interpreted differently, that in fact they are so foundational to our faith that without them we would not have “A Faith.” I clearly see what our friend is saying, and yet I felt as though there still are things in the Bible that people through the centuries have interpreted completely differently, and had staked their lives and others on. So I still wonder if there could be a balance. For example I am unnerved when someone stated emphatically that the world was created in seven days, and if you don’t believe that you are going to hell. I also am very annoyed with people who speak as if to have the inside scope of the “end times.” I mean, first of all, does it matter to God what we believe about these things and secondly, it takes a certain kind of arrogance to assume you have read to mind of God. That you have put him into a neat little box. So anyways…ranting now stopping…my dilemma now remains, do I believe there is a need to affirm certain truths, and to do so with conviction, or do I believe there is a need to be open to all possibilities about God and the Word????? Could there be an in between? Could there be a road that could hold both? Affirming the orthox doctrines of our faith but realizing God doesn’t say everything in black and white and wants me to go to him for direction and guidance when it comes to some things. I don’t know…. I feel like I have to believe something with conviction or else what do I have to give anyone else. And it does seem to me, that God does say some things very clearly…