I have this issue. I always think there is more time in the day than there actually is. Most days I take a moment in the morning to make a plan for the day. I make a mental checklist of what needs to happen during the day and what I hope I will have time to do.

Inevitably, most of the things I hope I will have time to do go undone. For example, I’d hoped to start my Christmas decorating today. But that just did not happen today. In fact, I was pressed for time to the point that I didn’t get dinner this evening (I had friends over and there were appetizers, so I filled up on those).

This is not a new issue in my life – for years I have always planned to do more in a given day than can actually be accomplished. My best friend and I used to make plans for a day off and we would always end them with “…and then we’ll go to a movie!” It never worked out. We only made it to the movies on days when we didn’t have other plans.

You would think that by now I would have figured out that I should plan on doing a little less because then I might actually accomplish everything on my list. But no, I just continue on planning too much and accomplishing less than I hoped.

Last night’s entry took a lot of writing energy out of me. I am not feeling particularly wordy tonight. So I think I will just share a few recent photos of my favourite four-legged-friend.

So without further adieu, Heeeeeeere’s Koski:

 

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So the tough thing about NaBloPoMo (the movement to post a new blog every day during November), is coming up with new ideas. I was just chatting with my friend Michelle on FB about what I could blog about today. She said answer the question: If your life flashed before your eyes, what are 5 moments you know would be included?

This reminded me of my favorite episode of LOST: the one where Charlie comes up with a list of his “Greatest Hits” – the 5 greatest moments of his life.

I thought it was a great idea, so here’s what I’ve got (in no particular order):

1) In the summer of 1998, my Poppa was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. One night, we were out at my grandparents cottage and it was after supper. I took my walkman (pre-iPod days, people!) and was wading in the water barefoot as I listened to music (this was a favourite ritual of mine out at Lake Obonga). I turned, and saw my Poppa and his dog, Briggie, coming around the point at one end of the bay, heading back toward the cottage as they finished off their after-supper walk . I just stopped and watched.  Bob Seger’s Roll Me Away was playing on my walkman and I knew to the depths of my soul that I would never see my Poppa like that again. 3 months later he succumbed to cancer.

2) For our 26th birthdays, my bestfriend and I took a trip to Europe together. On her birthday we were in Nice, France. We’d been at the beach most of the morning. We kept watching people parasailing. It looked like so much fun and we decided we had to try it. We were both scared and exhilarated. We decided to call our parents before we went up (you know, just in case things didn’t go well). There was a moment when we were floating above the Mediterranean, it felt like we could see all of Nice and everything was just perfect.

3) A few summers back, my brother and I were on vacation together, visiting our parents at their summer place, the farmhouse. We had this little dinner party with some friends and it was just the most wonderful meal. Afterwards Matt and I drove one of our friends back to his cottage. On the way back to the farmhouse, Matt asked me how things were going at the church I was serving at the time. I talked for a bit about a lot of exciting things that were going to be happening in the fall and what I was looking forward to. Then, very quietly, my brother said to me “You know, I’m proud of you, right?”

4) The moment I felt my call to the ministry – which is a long story, but the short version is: I was at the gym on the treadmill and listening to a cd on my discman (still, the days before I had an iPod!). One of the songs that I’ve heard a million times before had the lyrics “I’ve begged You for some proof for my Thomas eyes to see…but you know I’ve seen so much and I’ve explained it away.” And suddenly I knew that God had been calling me to the ministry for at least 5 years and I had been stubbornly plowing on with my fingers in my ears yelling “I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you!” I tried to go back to NOT knowing that this was what God wanted me to do with my life…but I couldn’t un-know it, no matter how hard I tried. My life changed that day.

5) When I was a kid, my friend Margo was diagnosed with childhood lukemia. Chemotherapy was highly experimental in those days. One time, Margo was in the hospital in our little town of New Liskeard. Our parents explained to us that Margo was sick and even though we all felt healthy, we couldn’t go see her in the hospital because we might unknowingly pass on some germs. So instead, they suited us up in our snowsuits (after all, it was winter in the snow belt), and we walked around the outside of the hospital until we got to Margo’s room. We stood in the snow waving at her, and she waved back.

 

Honourable mentions:

Because they couldn’t be condensed into one single moment, there are a few more things I have to mention, because I know they would flash before me, too:

-times spent with my parents: hugs, laughter, encouragement, faith conversations, shared meals. My folks are the best and I am blessed every time I get to spend time with them.

-times spent with Cameron, Nathan and Alexandria. These are my ‘adopted’ nephews and niece. They bring such joy to my life. I don’t have a ‘single moment’ memory with them – every time is special. Lots of hugs and silly games and conversations and even just holding them in my arms. They enrich my life in every way imaginable.

-times spent with my dog, Koski: she may only be 3 months old, but already she has brought me joy and companionship beyond compare. I love it when she looks at me and my heart breaks.

(Just so you know, that was a LOT harder than I thought it would be!)

So I had a rare evening without church commitments tonight. I chose to spend it at the theatre with a friend. We went to see “Anonymous,” a movie that speculates that Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, may have been the author of the plays attributed to one William Shakespeare.

At the end of the movie, my friend turned to me and asked what I thought of it. My reply? “I am still thinking.”

I thought about it all the way home (about a 40 drive) and even as I write this, my brain is still turning the movie over and over again. I am quite clear on the fact that I didn’t really enjoy the movie. I mean, it had all kinds of things going for it: good acting, good dialogue, great art direction, great cinematography, and I could go on.

But in the end, and at the centre of the film, is the theory that Shakespeare was not Shakespeare. That the man named William Shakespeare never wrote a play, a sonnet or even his own name. In the movie the man named William Shakespeare is a twerp – a man who fits under the title “village idiot” and is only out to make a buck. And that bugs me.

It bugs me because William Shakespeare is revered (by me, and by so many others), and I don’t like the thought that he doesn’t deserve to be.

Apparently I have a thing about people getting what they deserve. Of course, having said that…a verse of Scripture comes to mind: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Or to put it another way – God loves us enough to give us what we do not deserve.

All of this makes my brain tired.

…is rest. Craig Groeschel said that. It is a quote I repeat to myself and to others in times of stress.

The last couple of weeks have been much less stressful for me than the last few months. Things have fallen into a good rhythm at the church (I am still busier and out more evenings than I would like, but I am holding my own), Koski is making it through the night (praise God, no more 5:30am pee breaks!!) and I have been doing well at making sure I get a break now and then.

Still, I find myself at the end of this Sunday looking forward to the spiritual activity of rest.

And yes, that was the long way of saying: it is bedtime!

(Thanking God for the warm, comfortable bed that awaits me!)

Every once in a while it’s really important to stop and count your blessings. That may sound like a (lame) Christian cliche – but the reality is when you do take the time to count up some of the good things in life, it energizes you. It reminds you that God is the giver of all good gifts and that He has given more than you can count.

So my friend Becky posted today about some things that she loves (check it out by clicking on her name!). I read that post this morning and it made me smile. Then I thought “Well, I know exactly what I will post about today!” (Thanks for the reminder Becky.)

Here is my list. I encourage you to come up with your own.

Things I love:

1) Decaf Skinny Vanilla Latte with 5 pumps of Peppermint from Starbucks. SO tasty and festive, and only 3 WW pointsplus for a Grande. YUM!

2) The weight of Koski’s head on my leg as she sleeps beside me in my chair at the end of a long day. Puppy love is a beautiful thing.

3) Fall days where the sky is blue and the air is crisp. Thanks for the weather, Lord!

4) Talking to my Mom on the phone in the evening. I am so blessed to have that kind of relationship with my Mom!

5) Fuzzy blankets to wrap around me while I chill in front of the TV or write a blog on my laptop. So soft and warm. 🙂

I used to spend time on the bulletin board at the website of an author I enjoy. She would interact with her fans on this board. Every once in a while she would get us to brag about ourselves. Not about kids or husbands or friends or whatever, but about something about ourselves.

To come up with something that we could just say “I am awesome, I did good!” about was not easy. Many of us struggled with it. But when we succeeded, there was something powerful about declaring our strengths. Big or small, it was good for each of us to pat ourselves on the back on occasion.

So. All of that to say I need to take a moment to brag right now. Back in April I decided it was time to do something about my weight. So I started Weight Watchers. I started losing immediately. And I haven’t looked back.

On Thursday I had a moment of real triumph. I saw a dress I loved in a store window. I couldn’t leave it behind without trying it on. I seriously thought to myself “Well, stuff in that store never fits me anyway, so I won’t have to buy it.”

My friend and I went into the store, and I asked about the dress. The saleslady said to me “Yes, we have it right over here. What size?” I told her I didn’t have any idea. She looked me up and down, and then nodded firmly. “Medium.” I thought she was crazy. But I went with it.

She. Was. RIGHT!!!

I literally jumped up and down in excitement. I can barely get my head around the idea. I am a medium. I may have been a teenager the last time I was a medium. (And yes, I totally bought the dress.)

So there. That’s my brag. It is a big accomplishment, though my weight loss journey is far from over.

What about you? What awesome thing have you done lately that you need to brag about?