A bit on the lack side

This week has been an interesting one   The ACW ( Anglican Church Women) meeting was a lot of fun as I learnt more about the groups and their purpose within the Church structure    The Trinitarians.. this group of ladies has been doing services for catering and fund raising at the church for 50 years this year!  Wow.... I am inspired!   Now what to think of that a new group could add to this already successful group of ladies.. I will add further information about the other groups soon
Like I said a bit on the lack side this week... bad cold and a bit of other issues is keeping me at bay somewhat.  I am having a hard time focusing on things to get done.....

I know I have talked with some about my next aspiration in life to be a clown.  My first clown meeting is Tuesday night.    I also found this t-shirt on line while doing some other research...Like I was told before. Faith is fun ! 

Well... so far today a bit lethargic... looking forward to church in the morning and lunch with an old Friend that we have not seen for 10 years.

So have a great day!

Smile Bright and God Bless!

Memories and Tears

Today it was memories and Tears as the family and friends were there for my Uncle Bill's funeral service.   They did call it a Celebration of Life Service and I am happy to say that most of my tears were of Joy in remembering my Uncle.   The officiant was a long time friend of his family and was so personal and joyful it made my heart joyful!  There was laughter with the tears and all was good.   Introducing some of my family.  the top left is my Uncle Bill who is at peace now.  Beside him to the right  is Uncle Tom,  Aunt Theresa (Bills wife) Bottom four are Uncle Harry, his wife Aunt Stella, (who is Theresa's sister) My Mom Irene, and my Dad Bob.  I was glad we had this family breakfast back in November to be with them all.  Some of them were missing.  I actually can say I have Uncles.. Tom, Dick and Harry! 

FAITH IS FUN... This is one of the things he said in his offerings of todays thoughts.   I found this intriguing!  I always am one to say that there should be fun in everything we do and you should bring forward that excitement to interest others in the same.   He sparked me.  This can so be a motto that I would follow!  I often find that the people of Trinity Anglican are FUN but yet they are still so FAITHFUL.  They believe and they are good at spreading that joy around and I believe it as well.   I am totally hooked  on each and every activity to come so I can be a part of the energy that God has given them.  Hopefully and I know my purpose.... after all the Father today pointed out that Uncle Bill was an extrevert and I know I am!  I think I can make him proud by helping Trinity grow!

As within all families, personal, spiritual or other it is important not to put things off.  Think about it as tomorrow is another day but too many tomorrows can interupt what we should be acccomplishing today!  Don't leave your ideas and visits with your loved ones or with God until its too late!  I got to have this special moment because I did not put it off...
Smile Bright and God Bless!

The fine Balance of Life

Some days you just don't know where to begin.   Hopefully I am learning to begin each day with a prayer to be glad that I am still here thanking God for each day as it comes along and value it.
Where does this thought come from?  This week has been a very long one just to say the least.
Church went great and it was good to be back after a couple of  weeks.  There has been a lot on my mind with 2 uncles who are ill and my mom who is up and down as well.   A lot of concentrated prayers went their way this week as they are in my thoughts always.
I ended up in the Emergency ward on Tuesday due to women's issues...low haemoglobin... enough said... on my way to referrals and fixing it up after this 9 hour visit.    Jeanette from the Church was there in the emerg and when she saw I was there she was very comforting and a great smile to behold.  I really appreciated the fact that our church has a pastoral care program and that a friendly, hopeful, thoughtful time of care and prayer was given to me and to others who were there.  There were many others far worse off than me as ambulance after ambulance came and I waited my turn knowing and trusting that the care they received was much needed. I always remember to tell others that these wonderful people in emergency can only work their hardest and they do so be patient.

Wednesday I rested following Dr.s orders, checked up on my mom and watched a whole raft of bad movies.
Thursday bad news reigned as my Uncle Bill passed quietly in the morning after breakfast.  Thanks to God that he did not allow this wonderful person to suffer too long.  My Aunt said he had a smile on his face and looked like he was sleeping.  David my senior who is 81 often remarks that when it is time the good Lord will decide and take you into his care.  God bless you Uncle Bill, I am sure you are in his care and you will be  missed dearly.

 Treasure life people, we have to take life day to day,  live it fully and with care.  Take the time to talk with people, help others and make your path a valuable journey to your salvation with God.  In the end God has plans for us and we can assist in those plans but really will never know where the ultimate ending will be for us.  All I know is God isn't through with me yet and I have a lot to learn, do and spread to work towards salvation.

Smile Bright and God Bless!

My body Aches but my spirt is strong!

Wow... this weekend we were in the Honeymoon Bonspeil at the Galt Country Club where we are curling this year.   It was such a great weekend.   This is what I love about being here instead of the bigger cities.  Such good people , such good fun! (though I am sure in the city you can find it too but its easier here to find more friendly people)  They raised $1500 for charities doing a draw for prizes on the weekend as well.    I know why we are here in Cambridge!  I definatly made new friends this weekend and am so excited about this!  It makes life so much more interesting.  I thank God every day that we have come back to this area and can give more and be more in this community! 

My muscles will recover and  my heart  it is growning and full!  I want it to keep on growing!  Back to Church on Sunday... have to miss Pancake dinner as we are Curling on Tuesday but I hope lots go out for this event at Trinity.  Lots to look forward to and now I have to start planning the CARD PARTY in April.
Thank heavens its a holiday today... off to fold clothes and plan a dinner at home finally!

Smile Bright and God Bless!
Laura

Appreciating things a little more

Life has been just a bit on the busy side for the last couple of weeks.   We had a wonderful vacation to the Dominican Republic on the Puerto Plata side.   Of course we always as usual feel that one week is never long enough but it was a good week.

We Had the opportunity to be able to take a couple of day outings from the resort to see the countryside and its people.  I sit back and think about those outings and know that we are truly blessed to live in the state we do here in Canada.  Interesting though that most of Dominicans would smile and wave as you went by and seem to be fairly joyful with life.  Its hard to tell because really unless you stay there for some time you really would not have a good read about how they feel about their life style.  It is totally relevant as to what you know and grow up with.  I think we all could appreciate slowing down, doing without and  having less and doing more for others instead of striving for such materialistic levels in our lives.  God has given us much and we need to share and spread this.  We do do this at Trinity with lots of outbound activities and this makes me want to put more of my heart into this great work.  Plus remember to leave tips during your all inclusive vacations.  The minimum wages of these people in the resort and outside are very low and they can use a boost... whats a dollar to you??  ( Give up one takeout coffee a week or so!)

Tourism keeps an awful lot of the people stable and they rely on selling their small trinkets to the tourist and taking pride in showing their country. I get really annoyed when others visiting complain about aggressive vendors, the state of the vehicles or just because their food is not perfect and not the same as at home!  .  I believe that they try very hard and are aware of how important tourism to their country. One lady on the tour climbed on our small bus and in disgust exclaimed 'they call this a tour bus?! ' and right without missing a heartbeat staying  positive with a smile I said YES.cheerfully ..Its a tour and its a bus... so its a tour bus.... I am not sure she like me much but she at least curbed her complaining for a while.

Our tour guide said over 95% of the population are Catholic and the other 5% are alchoholics  as most of the rum produced in the Dominican stays there... resorts take a good part of that up...

Well we left our share of money there.. left school supplies at the school, rolled a cigar, rode in an open jeep up the mountians, saw a cocoa plantation, sucked on a raw cocoa bean, layed around on the beach a lot, ate too much, drank some but most of all  made sure we tipped our staff well and the lovely older lady who cleaned the public ladies room in the evening who I am sure most would forget about.  ( somebody looked at me like I was crazy) ( I made sure I did it in front of a lot of people... sorry God but guilt trips work well sometimes)

Next time I look at some peice of clothing made in the Dominican I will look at it a bit differently and not feel uncomfortable supporting thease people.   I give a lot of thanks to God that I was able to make this trip and grow myself from the experiance....

Smile Bright and God Bless!
Laura

Comfort Food on a cold day....

I think I am a Hobbit today.  One of those Tolkien characters with bare feet, are short and always hungry that have 2nd breakfasts!  Eggs before church and a good dose of oatmeal after! This is the strange things I do when Kevin is not around to be comforted! He is back home tonight thank heavens!  I miss Norm and Marion and going out for breakfast after church as well.  I know they are having a great time and I look forward to seeing them again in the spring!  

Serving #1  There was all kinds of comfort food for today.  The service was great as the first serving with Rev. Greg doing such a wonderful job as usual.  Believe me we are not disappointed when you are up there!  He fills our thoughts with great comfort of the kind of food for thought that Jesus is there for us and what we can believe in to make us stronger and to help us 'fish for people' to bring the word to others. Its funny sometimes the Kids part sticks with me so well... you think I may still be somewhat of a kid inside????  We do  need to spread the word with our actions, thoughts and kindness and to bring others along for the wonderful ride! So far at Trinity I see so many signs of spiritual food.... actions that feed needy, support outbound causes and bring joy to our hearts as I see so much kindness on the faces of the people here.

Serving #2  The choir was fabulous today.   Nice songs to sing along with at the beginning and through the service thanks guys!  Love the Caribbean Hallelujahs ... such an uplift to the spirit! I feel very satisfied with raising my voice to God... (no matter how funny it sounds, my apologies to those around me) 

Serving # 3   The coffee hour provides us with the food of fellowship and some to tempt the sweet tooth along with it!  What a great bunch!  The din in the hall was very strong today and joyful as all shared smiles and laughter over a cup of joe! I feel like there was a great participation today.   My apologies again to Alice and the others doing coffee... I did wash a few dishes but I just become so overwhelmed with talking and getting to know everyone!  I was very happy to meet a couple of new faces today and to share the blog and a smile with them today!

Serving # 3a  MY NAME TAG! Thanks John..  I was so excited I bet you heard that Whooooo Hooooooo going on... that was me ... what can I say! 

More later... time to think about some tidy up... haven't focused on much of that being stag this weekend... naughty me!  Thinking about dinner, satisfying food, good talk with my hubby when he gets home as well sharing the activities of this very busy Christ filled weekend!  

Hugs all....  Smile Bright and God Bless

Getting down Social with Drayton Theatre

Last evenings social club meeting was pleased to hear from Drayton Entertainment Group represented by Alan Card.  http://www.draytonentertainment.com/
We received a great background history about the start up of Drayton, the trials, the tribulations and all the fun involved in the running of such a complex company.  But when I say complex I mean that along with being a going concern (3rd largest Theatre company in ?Canada? .  I checked briefly on the web and found no brag page about the 6 awards either) and a company with a heart and concern for the communities they serve. With ongoing Co-op  programs and other great community endeavours.   I believe Cambridge is going to get along just great with this wonderful group.

I went with a date last night... sorry hubby.... really I picked up Doreen who has been a long time fan of Drayton and we enjoyed the evening together. I have never been so this certainly sparked my interest in going this season.

 If you haven't come out for social club you are missing some fun and I must say some pretty awesome food.   The ladies... and hey likely some guys do some pretty wicked baking.  Last night was loaves...... FABULOUS....Chocolate, cherry, whatever you can think was there.... YUMMY..... Though I think they should put the fruit up at the beginning to remind us that we need to eat some of that too!  OH and maybe I bring something Decaf.... to drink... I was wound up until almost 2 am last night after that last cup of tea....LOL....Good Conversation Good fun....

Sunday is here and off to Church services this morning, coffee hour and the promise of more dishes and fellowship.... I will know my way around that kitchen soon! 

Smile Bright and God Bless

Saturday Break

Bright and early this morning with the snowflakes falling down I headed to the church for the Saturday Morning Break program.  I have just recently become part of the team with Marilyn, Edith, Janet and myself.  We will be working together to bring you Saturday Morning Breaks this year!  If you have anything interesting you would like to have a speaker in for or know a speaker let us know!

The main hall is cheerfully set up with table and flowers and we had great coffee, homemade muffins and fellowship. The fellowship this morning included a great HUG session as well!  I just love hugs!
This mornings Speaker was Kim Decker , Executive Director for 26 years (God Bless Her!)  from YWCA Cambridge.    http://www.ywcacambridge.ca/
Now don't confuse this with the YMCA . They both have community endeavours in different directions. The YWCA has been  an active part of the community since the late 1940's.   I Bet like myself a lot of you do not know how very active the YWCA is in our community.  I encourage you to take a look at their website.

From the website....YWCA Cambridge, a member of a world-wide network, is a non-profit organization working with and for women and their families. Through proactive leadership, we offer high quality programs and services, advocate for social and economic change and work towards the empowerment and self-determination of all women.

Through leadership and advocacy, YWCA Cambridge is creating a society where women and girls are respected, valued and equal.

Kim came out to tell us some about the great work and programs that the YWCA Cambridge does for the community.  We learnt of  the in school programs for teaching students sensitivities to others, camps for kids as well as  programs for women to get into the work force and gain more self esteem with the 'Small Steps to Success' program.  This was most interesting as I had just learnt that the ACW (Anglican Church Women) group I am now happy to be a part of  does support this program with an annual donation.   It was really great to hear how our donation is helping out in the community.

Well I must say again it was an absolutely great morning networking and being with the women who attended.  I had a lovely chat with Doreen (who has been with the church forever and at 85 is still an active member of the ACW)  I liked it a lot when Doreen said I reminder her of herself and how she was very proud of me to be helping out.  I also had a great time washing up with Edith... Yes a great time... the fun is in how you perceive it!

On Thursday we will be meeting together to plan out the season with some more great Morning Breaks!  I hope more can attend this informative and fun session. 

Thank you God... I love this Church ... its People and the work you have placed before me! 

Now tonight even more fun with the Social Club meeting... we have a speaker from the new Drayton Theater that is in progress here.  This should be very informative and interesting!    I also look forward to the smiles and the fun that this group of great people bring!  If you haven't become social you just don't know what you are missing!

Well time to cook dinner and head out again!  Till later!  Smile Bright and God Bless!

The Bible on Line

This is a really easy way to get to the parts you want quickly and very easy to read.  On line is the NIV version all in full indexed and ready to just click away on!  I was pretty excited to see this one.  I have bookmarked this page for future.  Its not quite like holding the real book but the word is the same and depending on you tech attitude it could be for you to have it bookmarked and ready to go.

http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/

The indexing of the Bible is toward the middle/bottom of the page

Smile Bright!

Happening Jan 22-28th at the Church

This is a busy place.... Hope you can join us for some fellowship!
Jan 23rd  Early communion Classes Start at 4 pm and run for 5 weeks Call the office at the church for more information on this and the following.
Jan 26th Confirmation Classes start again
Thursday Join in for a Quiet eucharist in the Chapel at 10am with refreshments to follow.
Jan 28th Saturday Break... in the large room ....9:15 start and goes just over an hour... this is a morning coffee and muffin along with a speaker and great fellowship.... this is one I got my feet into at the ACW meeting so lets see what we can have fun with... all are welcome
Jan 28th Saturday  .... Interested in the Social Club... they have a speaker coming in from the new Drayton Theatre to talk with everyone about the things to come. They said this should hopefully clear up the happenings there separating fact from rumour.  This starts in the main hall at 7pm

Sunday there are two services at the church.  8 am spoken service and 10 am service with the choir and Sunday School and Nursery available.

The readings for this Sunday Epiphany IV   ( An epiphany (from the ancient Greek ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia, "manifestation, striking appearance") is the sudden realization or comprehension of the (larger) essence or meaning of something. The claimant has "found the last piece of the puzzle and now sees the whole picture," or has new information or experience, often insignificant by itself, that illuminates a deeper or numinous foundational

1st Lesson:  Deuteranomy 18:15-20
2nd Lesson 1 Corinthians 8 1-13

Hope to see you out!

Till the next thought crosses my mind... Smile Bright and God Bless

All feet, head, heart ... forward and into the pool!

Tonight was the ACW, Anglican Church Women of Canada annual meeting at Trinity and I really wanted to take part to find out more about happenings around the church.  I did a bit of reading about the ACW on line at http://www.acwcanada.com/  it helped me to understand the valuable work that these women do for the church and the community in their service to God.  We had a really great potluck dinner together. I was a bit late as I had to come in from work as Monday's is one of my days with David. (he was a bit tired today with a bit of a cold. I pray that leaves him soon!)  Everyone was so nice and greeted me cheerfully... There were at least 3 new members out tonight which is great!  Hopefully we can get more interested and out to join in the fun.  I know we all felt very welcome. 

I said feet first, heart and head and everything follows.... Ladies.. I use to wear a button that read... PRONE TO BURSTS OF ENTHUSIASM!  I love what they do for the church and for outreach and was quite honoured to have Marilyn ask me to help out and be the conveener of the Card Party night in April.  Wow... cool!  I was very enthusiastic!  I also became a member of a new committee for 'Saturday Break'  Which has fellowship of coffee and treats and a speaker as well... And well the first one is this Saturday.... Yeeeee Hawww  here we go! 

More tomorrow... off to bed...Smile Bright and God Bless

Smiles Galore....

Today is a great Sunday.  The sun shines out on us from above on the slightly chilly day.  But...It was so warm inside the church today.  I could feel the warmth in the smiles and caring that surrounded me from the time we entered the door.  Alice, Sue and Elgin greeted me with great vigour.  I was so excited to be asked by them and the others to help out with the coffee service this morning and anytime I would like. I must apologise to the group however this morning as I was trying to talk to people to promote getting together on this blog.  She forgave me but I promise to be the dishwasher next week... on my honour!

The children's part was so much fun this morning ...  I think the adults enjoy it as much as the kids thanks so much to Rev. Greg.   Jonah was really cute what a great idea. The kids got so into making waves with their pretend water and watching Jonah get swallowed up by the fish and sent in the right direction back to spread the word.  True that there is both humour and sadness in the stories and what a great one to tell.  Jonah with just a few words from God could turn a city over to the good side and be saved even though he really started out with no faith in himself.  Cool story that I remember from childhood as well.  I think the congregation really wakes up and smiles during the children's part and is raring to go after! You can read about it in Jonah 3: 1-5,10

Coffee hour brought a great deal of interest out in the blog and I hope together we can build from it!   i found so much great feedback and good feelings from everyone I talked with this morning.  Wow....  WOW.. WOW

I have the family over for movies and dinner today so I sign off with next weeks reading list... yes I remembered to bring home the bulletin! 

Oh yeah... it is still Epiphany... and I remember what that means... Ahhhhh.... Haaaaaa.... discovery!
1st lesson ... Deuteronomy 18: 15-20      Second Lesson 1st Corinthians 8: 1-13.  I am going to try to read through this ahead to see if it makes any difference to my understanding.  I am sure it will.

Have a great day with your thoughts and Smile Bright!  God Bless

Start learning and reading and listen to the wise

Well it is almost Sunday morning and only a few hours to go to services.  I think a milestone has been struck... one of the things that I notice in my plans for weekends seems to always include... what we will be doing after church.   We no longer view it as...are we going or should we go it seems to be now become a given. I believe this we could call a bit of a growth spirit towards God.  That's a good thing.    We were working on our home theatre set up and were dog tired on Sunday morning. I am sorry that I missed last week as I was thinking I would be nice to review the readings ahead of time as they suggest from the bulletin for this Sunday but... no church on Sunday = no bulletin.  I will have to see if I can get a list and start listing them here on the blog if anyone else is interested or get some info updated on the web site.

Friday was a good day with David my senior that I visit with.  He was so amused to look at the blog with me on my cell phone and find that I had spoken of him.  He just lights up and his eyes sparkle when we spend a few moments to talk about God and good things in the world.  David I said... if someone is to just start learning and exploring what part of the bible would you tell them to read first.  Excitedly David sat up and pulled a black bible from under the table. The aged pages were crisp and slightly tattered and very well used.  Notations of all sorts were written into the edges of the pages and some of the text underlined.  You could see that it had been used for a very long time and used with great thought.  David suggested that I start with the Book of John.  He had a sheet in there with each chapters meaning outlined that he had written some 30 years ago to help him understand and study the book of John.  He was so excited he promised to print me out a copy for Monday to help me with my study.  He is so looking forward to Monday now.  I love to see that sparkle in his Irish eyes!  That must be were Irish Eyes are smiling comes from! 

Tomorrow at church I am going to give out the info about the blog so hopefully some will share and follow in my growth with God. 

Its almost Sunday now! 
Goodnight, Smile bright and God Bless

Trinity's Happenings.....

Lots of interesting things have happened since I have been at Trinity.  This is an active fun community of sharing caring and God loving people!   We have attended dinners for fun... that Newfie dinner night with the Screeching in was a hoot!  The Newfie auction raised over $300 for activities at the church... very community oriented by the way!  We attend social club get togethers... there are small groups to explore, men's club and women's groups... got to find out more to let you know.

Just right now I am going to post a link to our newsletter... the LINK.... http://www.trinityanglican.on.ca/Newsletter.pdf

As well the official web site of the Church... http://www.trinityanglican.on.ca/index.html
There you will find the fellowship service times should you like to check out the beautiful church and the beautiful people lead by God`s good word to do good work in this church!

Some of the happenings from the LINK are

January 29 Guest Preacher Archdeacon John Robertson
February 5 Annual Vestry Meeting to follow service
February 21 Pancake Supper, Parish Hall
February 22 Ash Wednesday
February 26 First Sunday of Lent

Till later... Smile Bright and God Bless

I know it is Just a Name Tag.....

During the Town Meeting at the church last evening the topic of how we greet members into the church came up as an improvement from the time the goals of the parish were set.  It has been a great improvement to my understanding after talking with Edward, Elgin and Dorothy last evening at the meeting.   I found a very warm welcome from the time we arrived and every time we attend a service or any event so I have not noticed a difference.( it is a very warm and friendly church and hugs are allowed!  Yippee...can't have too many HUGS) However I did see some parishioners wearing name tags.... I though... when do I get recognised and have this honour.  It is only a symbol but somewhat a symbol of belonging to the whole.   At the meeting it was brought up that name tags were working.  We for those of you that will get to know me I am somewhat outgoing and GREGARIOUS so I spoke up asking how, when and why since I had been with the church since September.   I kid a lot and know that it takes time for things to gel. Sometimes I am a hard person to forget. ( I think there is a plan from God in this maybe... you think) I don't need a name tag but I want to make sure all feel welcome right away to our family!  Working towards this goal will be interesting.  After all we all love our names.  The sound of them and the use of them is all human nature's part of our path to belonging.  

IDEA  What if we all personalise our name tags with our favourite scripture saying or something like that.  I think God would approve of our personality shining through!

Let the journey begin......

A long but fruitful day.  Today I came to the realization that I want to be a part of the church community and understand more about Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit... the Trinity.   I have felt for sometime that something was missing in my spiritual life.  I have always had a belief in a higher being but somehow always felt shy when it comes to expressing this belief or taking action to grow in a Christian faith direction.  The day started with a meeting with Rev. Greg Jenkins.  I wanted to gain some feeling for how I could be a part of the churches health and well being and how I could also grow in the direction of fellowship and spirit.  In the afternoon I went to my job.  I meet with a senior as  a companion 3 times a week.  It was a very exciting afternoon as I absorbed the disscusion that David (who is 81 and a saved soul since 1955) and I bounced the ideas I had shared with Rev. Greg off of David and absorbed as well all his stories and ideas. It really is very interesting that I was placed with David in September about the same time I started  at the church. In the evening I attended a Town Hall meeting at the church.This is a follow up to the visions and goals that the Parish had set back 2 years ago during a transition stage.  I know after this meeting this evening and the disscusions, sharing and prayer that I belong.

My 81 year old mentor David put it this way.... there is   CH   and there is  RH  but to put it all together what is missing in the middle is  U!  Of course... he is a very wise Irishman with many years of experiance to share with me.  I am part of that U .... will you find out with me on my path to growing spiritually if you have some of that U in you!  Goodnight,  Smile Bright and God Bless........