Nostalgia

This is a Westclox Baby Ben Alarm clock and made it's appearance on the market in 1964. I used to work at Westclox General Time in Peterborough Ontario when I was 17 years old.

I recently discovered something rather remarkable when talking over the life of Pop, my husbands father, my father in law and until October of this year he shared our home until Jesus decided to take him to heaven at age 90 .

Pop used to call me his 'daughter in love'.....so endearing....

I only actually knew him personally since January 2010, thus only knowing him as a senior or maybe I should say 'Super Senior' since I am now myself a 'younger senior'.

A fun fact is that dad knew my mom when they were in their early to late teens before my mom met my father.

Anyway, Pop/ Paul Collet also worked at Westclox as the Foreman of the tool room and he became the lead toolmaker for Western Time Limited.....and Pop, our little Pop.....actually designed the components and the tools to make the components for the Baby Ben Alarm clocks. One of the most popular alarm clocks ever made.

I used to have one myself many many years ago.

So...once I discovered this wonderful news , we went on e-bay and ordered our own, just to have another sweet memory of this amazing man.

One thing I learned a long time ago was to see the value in the 'Senior'.

Remembering that this old bent form, who now needs assistance to get dressed, feed himself, and perform all the daily actions we younger ones take so for granted in our youth was once as young and vital as we see ourselves.....and has made valuable contributions to the same society that seems to devalue this same one once they are no longer young.

Once again, I digress...we are so blessed to have shared our last year together.

This little clock is a nice bit of memorabilia . Thanks Pop....you were really smart....way to go !

Oh the Places You'll Go

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!


The date tonight is officially December 25, 2011, Christmas Day.....well, it's still night time here in B.C. that's why I'm still up.

Something has happened to me some where along this day...this morning when in the shower I was thinking along the lines of an earthquake...don't know why at all. I usually think of these thoughts that pop into my head in a spiritual sense...so no big worries there.

Since I haven't blogged in a very long time, this may be a little 'out there'.

Anyway, it's Christmas time...but I have lost Christmas. Not the Reason, not the beauty of the Word becoming Flesh...just all the rest. My family is scattered all across Canada. I am here in a small town in the lower mainland of B.C.

I settled here last November after getting married....that's story has already been told. There is lots more to share on that year, but another post another day.

For tonight all I need to say is that there has been a change, a shift, whatever one wants to call it...an awakening...a change of direction.

Leaving Christmas behind, with all the wonderful fond family memories, has been very challenging over the past ten or so years. When I was a child it was my favorite time of year...peace reigned in an otherwise often 'war zone' between my parents.

With my own children I tried very hard to always make everything lovely, with the true meaning of Jesus coming weaved into the season.

But I digress....all that to say, sometimes, it's just time to take the 'other path', listen to the invitation of 'The Voice' and say yes, I will go and do whatever you have in your plan for us.

So...for tonight ....my response as the result of pressing my ear to the floor of heaven...hearing His heartbeat...is yes...absolutely yes...with all the grace and mercy needed to make this new transition and wherever that leads me.

Just don't want to miss the next chapter...so Jesus...lead on , and if sometimes you have to come back and find me where I may have stumbled I really like that you don't mind at all. You just keep smiling encouragement when you look in my face. Thanks for that Lord I just love your grin.

And so it begins.......

Christmas 2011

Immanuel, God is with us.

Everything has changed.

The Kingdom has come among us.

We are changed forever.

Acts 2:1

Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The Holy Spirit came upon them suddenly - not predictably or expectedly or customarily but 'suddenly'.

Welcome to the world of Acts and the 'sudden' Spirit of God, sovereign and free, never subordinate to timing or technique. He creates His own agenda, determines his own calendar, and keeps His own hours.

Fire and wind now. House shaking later. Visiting the Samaritans after water baptism. Falling on the Gentiles before water baptism.

And here, roaring like a tornado through Jerusalem. The 'Sound' filled the whole house' and spilled into the streets. The whistling, rushing,blowing sound of a wind.

They began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

..........we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.
So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 'Whatever could this mean?'(vv.4-12)

Envision such a phenomenon. Imagine a cosmopolitan center such as New York City. Fifth Avenue is packed with business people, laborers, and travellers from all over the world.

Early one morning as the mobs throb their way to work, the sound of wind shakes the boulevard. The roar is so stout and robust that people stop dead in their tracks as if expecting to see a train blaze down the avenue.

Silence falls on the city only to be interrupted by the voices of a group gathered in Central Park. One hundred and twenty people speak, each one standing beneath a different flame, each one proclaiming God's goodness in a different language. Witnesses hear their native tongues. Jose from Spain hears about God's mercy in Spanish, Mayo from Japan hears a message in Japanese.....They hear different languages but one message: the wonders of God.

Whatever could this mean ? (v.12) ...rushing wind and falling fire....

At least this much....God loves the nations.....He longs to proclaim His greatness in all 6909 languages that exist in the world today.

He loves all people groups and equips us to be His voice.

He commissions common Galileans, Nebraskans, Canadians, and Koreans to speak the languages of the peoples of the world.

He teaches us the vocabulary of the distant lands, the dialect of the discouraged neighbor, the vernacular of the lonely heart, and the idiom of the young student.

God outfits his followers to cross cultures and touch hearts. Pentecost makes this promise: if you are in Christ, God's Spirit will speak through you.

Let God unshell you. And when He does, 'make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given , and then sink yourself into that.(Gal.6:4 msg.)

Don't miss the opportunity to discover your language.

I am reading the above book. I joined booksneeze.com and you get to review a book which they send you for free and you just write a review of it on your blog. Pretty cool...

So, this one chapter has impacted me most so far,especially the invitation to 'discover your language'....which for me has clearly been a burden for the elderly.

I love that God speaks every language, and likes to awaken our ear to hear the many and varied ways He chooses to speak .

And I really appreciate Max Lucado and the language the Lord has chosen to speak His heart to me through. Very nice.

A True Tale of the Wilderness

This is my dear friend Carol who lives in the Haliburton Highlands of Ontario.

Actually I consider the location of their cute little home the wilderness....bush country....well, at least a few miles outside of the little tourist town .

Anyway recently Carol shared a bit of the excitement of her life in the wild of the Old Donald Road.

It was late at night when she heard a ruckus on the deck below her bedroom patio window. Upon investigation she saw a large bear....so she yelled at him to go away.

He began to leave then changed his mind and started back to the little bird feeder he had his nose into. Carol yelled again...'where was Bud ?' I asked. Bud is her husband. I thought he has a rifle.
He has...but he has no bullets.....( much laughing happening at this point in this story )

Carol , being the brilliant thinker that she is in a crisis, grabbed her saxophone which was nearby in her room. This lady stepped out on her bedroom deck and began to play that instrument with such vigor that ol' bear took off running into the bush never to be seen again.I forgot to ask which song she used.

I really love this story....she has had other bears, moose, and other smaller critter visitors.....but now perhaps the answer is the sound of the sax resounding through the bush , kind of like Gideon.

On the other hand I hope Bud gets at least one bullet for his rifle just in case.....

Love you guys Carol and Bud and hope to see you in the fall.

Never the Same Again

I have been reading a book by Bill Johnson .
Face to Face with God.

I feel the Hunger arising in my heart for a new fresh touch , an Encounter with the Face of my Beloved.

Reading the experiences of a couple of well known names from the past , I can feel the Lord inviting us into more....there is always more.

Charles Finney....was a lawyer who became a revivalist and his encounter with God changed everything about his life, enabling him to bring about great transformation to the nation.

(a small excerpt....after he has accompanied his visitor to the door.)

" As I closed the door and turned around my heart seemed to be liquid within me. All my feelings seemed to rise and flow out; and the utterance of my heart was, " I want to pour out my whole soul to God. " The rising of my soul was so great that I rushed into the room back of the front office to pray.

There was no fire, and no light in the room; nevertheless it appeared to me as if it were perfectly light.
As I went in and shut the door after me, it seemed as if I met the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. It did not occur to me that it was wholly a mental state. On the contrary it seemed to me that I saw Him as I would see any other man.

He said nothing but looked at me in such a manner as to break me right down at His feet. I have always since regarded this as a most remarkable state of mind; for it seemed that he stood before me, and I fell down at his feet and poured out my soul to Him.

I wept aloud like a child, and made such confessions as I could with my choked utterance.

I received such a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any expectation of it , without ever having the thought in my mind that there was any such thing for me, without any recollection that I had heard the thing mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression like a wave of electricity going through and through me.

Indeed it seemed to come in waves of liquid love; for I could not express it in any other way. It seemed like the very breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like immense wings.

No words can express that wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart. I wept aloud with joy and love; and I do not know but I should say, I literally bellowed out the unutterable gushings of my heart.
These waves came over me and over me and over me one after another until I recollect I cried out ' I shall die if these waves continue to pass over me'. I said, 'Lord, I cannot bear any more,' yet I had no fear of death.

This bit of his story has stirred the desire within to once again surrender in welcoming You Holy Spirit of Jesus to possession of my soul . Waves of love.....waves of liquid love....how wonderfully amazing to have known such an encounter.