Cindy and I had a great time together yesterday. First, we went to the fabric store and did some damage there. I got what I need to make some of those Santa Claus's. Now all I have to do is make time to do them/some. I also got some fat quarters to make some angels. I think I can remember how to make them.
Then we went to Giant Tiger, and I picked up some curling ribbons and bows, gift tags. There was this cute looking ornament, a pickled gerkin, but on the box it showed it wearing a Santa hat. If you looked in the box, however, the gerkin was not wearing a hat. It was just a pickle. I had been going to buy one, but I changed my mind. False advertising, I thought. Maybe I am just picky, but it seems to me that if the picture on the box shows the article inside wearing a hat and there is no disclaimer on the box to say that it isn't wearing a hat, it should be wearing a hat. Am I wrong?
Then we had a bathroom break, because women of a certain age need bathroom breaks. Especially if you have birthed a number of children. (Nobody tells you this when you are younger.) One thing which is nice about the mall near us is that their bathroom is always nice and clean, and it smells nice. I hate using a smelly bathroom or one that looks less than clean. The one on the main floor at the Superstore is always smelly and dirty looking. I avoid it at all cost if I can help it.
Next, we went to the A&W. My father has coffee and toast at the A&W every weekday morning of the year that they are open. I wanted to pick up a gift certificate for him for Christmas. He is at that age where you don't know what to get him. Something like that is always something he enjoys.
We left there and I had decided to try the new carwash that they opened in Greenwood. At the weekend, I had gone over my car with a wet j-cloth and some warm water to try to clean off some of the smut that had accumulated over the past weeks, but it had only ended up looking worse. (What do I know about car washing, nothing!) Car washes have sure changed since I last had one. There are no attendants, just a machine outside. It talks to you, gives you your options and you choose and pay. Cash or card. Then you follow the arrow inside. No need to drive your car onto a special track. Just pull up until it tells you to stop. Then this machine makes several passes over and around your car. Two with soap and spray. Two with a heavy-duty rinsing thing spray, and then two with a dryer. Finito! All done, the door opens up and you drive away. Easy peasy.
We left there and went to my dad's. I had told him I would put subtitles/closed captioning onto his television as he is having a difficult time making out what people are saying on it. (I have them on mine and I don't find them intrusive at all. In fact, I wouldn't be without them now.) Also, my sister was going to change his tablecloth on his table. We made him some lunch and visited for a short and then we went to the grocery store. I needed milk and bread. Cindy needed a few bits. And that was it. We ended up going to two grocery stores because the first one didn't have all we needed, or exactly what we needed.
I love these jaunts I take with Cindy. We talk. We laugh. We just plain enjoy each other's company.
One thing happened when we were out that I had been afraid of this whole two years I have been back in Canada. I had managed to avoid this up until yesterday. We ran into my ex-husband in the parking lot in the mall. I was going to duck back to the car, but it was too late. He had seen us first. There was no avoiding the confrontation. All those things that I would have liked to say to him, had thought I would say to him, flew out the window. What passed were a few pleasantries in the parking lot. AWKWARD. It seems I am a lot nicer than I thought I was. I had always pictured myself waving him off and just walking past him, but I couldn't do that. I had to be . . . nice. Cindy said I looked a bit like a deer that was caught in the headlights. To be honest I felt like a deer caught in the headlights.
But at least that is now done. I don't have to worry about it anymore. It's happened. And I didn't die.
He somehow looked shorter and smaller to me. Like he had shrunk.
As I was saying my prayers last night I was praying for healing. Healing from the hurts of the past mostly. I have had a lot to contend with over the past, well my whole life really. I am so tired of carrying the burden of it all. And so, I was praying for healing. Then I was reading in a book I have been reading called "Look Unto Him," finding the love of Christ in our lives. It's been written by a number of authors/writers.
The page I was on was a piece of art by Eva Koleva Timothy depicting Christ healing the daughter of Jairus, and she was sharing her thought on it. I won't write it in full, but these words jumped out at me:
"This image reminds me of Christ's authority to raise us not only from the dead but also from every affliction and difficulty, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. He makes us whole over the course of our lives." I thought to myself wow.
Then I went on to read from some gospel manuals. For a number of years, the church put out manuals each year on the teaching of the modern-day prophets. A different prophet each year. I have been going through each one of them and studying the chapters on each particular prophet's ponderings of Christ.
Last night I was reading in Howard W Hunter's. These words jumped out at me:
How much of a normal day, a working week, or a fleeting month is devoted to "Jesus the very thought of thee"? Perhaps for some of us not enough.
Surely life would be more peaceful, surely marriages and families would be stronger, certainly neighborhoods and nations would be safer and kinder and more constructive if more of the gospel of Jesus Christ "with sweetness" could fill our breasts.
Unless we pay more attention of the thoughts of our hearts, I wonder what hope we have to claim that greater joy, that sweeter prize: someday his loving "face to see / And in his presence rest."
I was calmed by all these words. The ones on Christ's ability to heal us and the ones on finding rest in His presence.
This type of thing happens to me all too frequently. When I reach out from the depths of my heart asking for solace/forgiveness/healing/whatever . . . He answers my prayers, or at the very least reminds me of His presence and His knowledge of my life and the things I need . . . and lets me know He is working on it or shows me what I need to do . . . tangible reminders that I am not alone in anything.
Call it coincidence if you will, but I know that it is much more than that, and that knowledge brings me peace.
I'm not sure what I will get up to today. A bit of this and a bit of that. Its Wednesday so I will be having supper at the Big Scoop with my dad and his friends. I suppose they are now my friends too. Happy thought that. Whatever, I will fill my day and it will be pleasant. I do know I have to get my printer up and running again. For some reason it has stopped working on the Wi-Fi. I was too tired to sort it out last night, so I expect that will eat up some of my time today!
And with that I will leave you with a thought for the day . . .
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In The English Kitchen today, I am ending November with some of my favorite things to bake, cookie wise for Christmas. Let's share favorites!
I hope that you have a beautiful day. I hope that it surprises you in the most wonderful ways. Don't forget!
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