California for Stefani

We were at church Saturday night and the speaker spoke about struggling which was a very good topic for us currently.  Then he want to read out of Judges 6 & 7 about Gideon and his plight.  It was a good topic, but I think I would have preferred other references of how God helps us through struggles, especially in the New Testament.  Here is why…

I personally find the Old Testament depressing.  There is so much hurt, destruction, multiple wives, ect.  I am not saying it isn’t important because it is our foundation that our Christianity is based on.  It is our history so we can’t ignore it… but I still tend to find it overly depressing.  I think it is because they had no Hope, like we have.  We have Jesus who died on the cross and forgave our sins (no matter the sin).   We don’t have to give sacrifices for our sins… all we have to do is pray for forgiveness and it is given to us because of Jesus. 

I landed up reading ahead a bit and read about Ruth… she was kinda cool and I do like that story.  We read these stories and just look at them as stories, but they actually happened… these people we read about when through all of this.  I can’t even imagine Joseph and all the things he had to go through… makes me appreciate my life… granted we have hope, no matter what we can pray to Jesus and there is peace.

It has been a rough few days.  Yesterday I fluctuated between happy and depressed, which is annoying in one hand, but good for my food intake because when I get stressed, I stop eating.  Hopefully I loose a few pounds during all this LOL.  It has hard to see what will happen when rent is due in just over a week.  What are we going to do?  What about the other bills that are just starting to pile up a bit (nothing to major yet).  I try to not think about it, but when it is quiet and there is nothing occupying my mind… that is where it goes.  It is why I am watching lots of tv currently (and applying for lots of jobs).   I keep praying and I know we are blessed to have HOPE… we know that God/Jesus will take care of us and that something will work out.  We both will find the jobs we need to find and we can settle down into a routine again.

Tomorrow I get to do some bookkeeping for a client, so at least that will keep my mind occupied for awhile.  There is nothing like being surrounded by numbers to ease one’s mind.  My stomach is in knots a lot these days and I hope that goes away soon.  It makes enjoying food a little tough LOL.  I have to keep praying and looking to God… it is what I keep saying to myself over and over again.  I am grateful for worship music, that is for sure.  Not sure how I would survive without that.

So here is to another day tomorrow and I am praying that things work out and that God/Jesus will give us peace and we are grateful for our Hope that we have.

Anyone who knows me and has been to our house knows about my love for knick knacks… I think they represent little moments in time and they are are a remind of things in our past.   My house is full of these things and i love looking at them all the time.  In our bedroom is a wall of pictures of our various travels, and just about every morning I lie in our bed and just look at them and smile about all the fun we have had in our lives.  Right now we are going through some trials, but in a few weeks, we will be adding more knick knacks and pictures to our home as we travel with my parents to Hawaii and visit Aulani.  Right now we can’t really afford it, but it will all come together even if it means dumpster diving for food.  Our strength is in God and that Doug will find a job soon and that I might get a few more clients for bookkeeping.  We are both feeling an amazing peace about it all though and know that no matter what, God will keep us safe.  I hope we can keep our condo here at the beach… we love it here and would hate to move.  So here is praying that rent will be made at the end of month, the car payment can be made and that food will be on our table.  I think we will be ok though, it is what is promised by our God and Saviour (aren’t we lucky to have that?). 

So… on with the knick knacks… here are a few pictures of them in our house and an explanation of what they are:

From left to right… first we have a little dinosaur that was bought by my sister and I think given to me for either Christmas or a birthday.  I just thought it was really cute and have kept it for years.  Then there is a picture of my mom when she was a kid, again, I just thought it was really cute and think it is perfect in our knick knack wall.  Next to that is a little lantern which I think I got as a kid from my parents.  I have kept it all these years as a representation of my wonderful childhood.  In front of that is a crystal, again, something I got from my parents and I have kept it all these years.  The little knick knack on the far right is from a family friend from my childhood and she gave that to us on our wedding.  It says “he gave us love”… very appropriate for a wedding gift and a wonderful memory of the Fast family who brought us lots of laughs and great memories.

The next picture is three little souvenir glasses from a Princess Cruise.  They came with Limoncello in it, but we drank that on the ship.  On top of the middle one is a replica of our dog Louie, who passed away a few years ago.  I got it custom made and she used a picture of Louie to make it, so it looks just like him.  There is also a seashell on this shelf and that just represents our love of the ocean.  The spoon is from a co-worker and friend named Becky who has a wonderful love of life and a great example of a wonderful loving Christian woman. 

 

Now this shelf has some unique items on it… first we have two “ship on a stick” from Carnival.  One is from our cruise on the Carnival Splendor, which went from a Mexican Riviera cruise to a Pacific Coastal cruise up to Victoria (due to the swine flu).  The other ship is from the Carnival Dream which we did with my cousins from Florida a few years ago… great memories.  Then in the middle is a picture of Doug’s brother Gregory who passed away less than a year after that picture was taken.  We will always keep a picture of him on our shelf.  On the far right is an agate, which I found one day at the river (many years ago).  It is fairly big and heavy and is sort of shaped like a foot.  I don’t think we have every found an agate that big ever, so I have always kept it with me.  It actually was packed with our suitcase to go with us to Mexico.  Then you see three black labs… they were from my aunt and uncle (Klaus & Esther) who thought they looked like Louie and figured we would like them.  I love these kind of things because it shows that people do think about us when they see something.

I have a lot more knick knacks around the house, but I just wanted to show off a few of them.  My friend Grace from California has bought me a number of Disney things in her travels as most people know I am a sucker for Mickey Mouse.  Our house is full of Mickey Mouse / Disney stuff from people seeing them and thinking to get them for us.   Our bedroom is full of Disney items and I will never get sick of that (since I have a Mickey tattoo, that better be the case).  On our fire place mantel is the Mickey/Minnie candle that my friend Conny bought us when we were in Hawaii last.  All these little things all over our house has memories attached to it.   We are blessed to have these memories and I look forward to adding more to our life.

Here is to many more knick knacks for our home because that means we love to explore, travel, are loved and are thought about… all this is thanks to our wonderful God/Jesus who allows us to have fun in life.

It is a start of a new year. Not sure how I feel about 2011. It was an ok year, but nothing to fantastic. I didn't work as much as I wanted, so that means our credit cards are a little higher than we want. Doug was layed up for a few months (but thankfully he could still work). He is doing much better, so that has been really nice. We did loose out on our summer because of that, so I think our vacation to Hawaii next month is something we are looking forward to even more.

Yesterday Doug was asked to help out with a worship team playing drums. We don't go to the church at all. I think most people on a worship team would have issues with that but not this worship team... they are just happy if someone will play and fill in when there is a need. This got me thinking about our church situation again and here is my take on it...

Here is our church... it is a handful of people who get together once a week to talk about their lives, God and just regular people stuff. We have no structure, just ideas and fun. When there is a need in the group, it is filled... for example last August I was exhausted from having to do everything for Doug. I just couldn't keep up with things, so I asked our group if they could help with food and everyone of them chipped in. Yup, that is what church is about. To me, that is church... we may only be 9 people, but it is church to me. We even do things outside of our meeting time... for example a few weeks ago the ladies (yes I will use that term) went downtown and shopped... yup, there I was wandering stores like LuLu Lemon (what the heck kind of stupid name is that) in downtown Vancouver with some wonderful ladies. Even though I am not a shopper, I enjoyed my time with them. It was nice getting to know them a little more. Tomorrow I am going to a ladies only brunch and then we are going for tea after... if anyone knows me, this is so unlike what I like to do... but it is all about getting to know people better and doing things outside of your comfort zone.

This is all church for me... and for now, this is all I need. Anyone who thinks that being a Christian means you have to do more church than that, has rocks in their head. I believe church looks different to everyone. It is all about our relationship with other Christians and how we live our lives for Jesus/God. I like this church that we are in... sure some of them are part of a bigger "formal" church, but they have no expectations of us and in fact, they are ok with Doug helping out in their worship team at the "formal" church.

I did ask Doug yesterday a question... and here is what it was... "do I look weird being with a bunch of 30 and younger people?" Everyone in our little church is much younger than us. I want to make sure we fit in and not embarrass them when we are in public, as I tend to like Mickey Mouse just a little too much LOL. Doug says I fit in fine, and that makes me glad. It is hard being in our 40's and feel much younger than that. I love how they all except us for who we are, even if we are the old folks of the group. We are both very grateful for each and every one of them and how they have become a part of our lives. Unless we move to California anytime soon, we plan on being a part of their lives for a long time... they will have to kill us to get rid of us (or find a way for us to move to California LOL).

So that is my post about our church...