Quiet

Welcome, January. Welcome, 2020. Welcome, new year.

It has been quite the January, so far. We had a lovely Christmas. And then we came home and had sickness. The kind of sickness where everyone is down for a week with fever and chills and aches and colds. And we've overlapped somewhat but it has really been a long drawn-out affair, which has launched 2020 as one of the most remarkably stay-at-home, relaxing years. I'd like to focus on the scent of homemade brown bread wafting through the house, the hours and hours of reading stories (welcome to the Melendy quartet) together as a family and playing game after game of Cover Your Donkey (as Sasha likes to call it).

Slow waltz. That's us, foggy-brained, hoarse-voiced, each at our own pace of rest and relaxation.

And lest we forget to impart important details, we must add that we've had very little school and many days of -50ish windchill. A walk across the yard holds coughing fits and chilled fingers.

And then the day that Pat felt himself getting progressively worse and joining the ranks of sick, Zach played hockey and scored a ten-stitch scar on his temple. It was late in the evening. Those things always make all-night ER trips. Colby came with me to bring him in and the wait was phenomenally long. I found out later they were keeping him for a six-hour watch because it was a head trauma. When it was finally time for stitches I fled the room, Colby fled the room and the doctor had to get Zach to press the call button for help because she had a surface bleed which filled his ear and sprayed her shirt. We came home in the wee hours, relieved, exhausted, and one with a serious headache.

We have so much to be grateful for.

Back to my word. Quiet. I'm in a writing group with three lovely ladies and our topic for January was 'your word for the year'. I pondered and thought. Self-denial? Most definitely needed. Joy? That's what I want. Hope? Always. I had this idea going through my mind. I've been on this journey for a while now of deepening/strengthening/growing in self-denial and quietness. When Karen suggested quiet I knew that explained what I was trying to say. The word quiet can have so much more self-denial and grace than the word self-denial. And quiet to me means a quiet heart, a quiet spirit but not necessarily being quiet and not saying anything, which for me could be more rebellious than anything.

Quiet.

So beautiful; like the snow-flakes drifting down outside my window, like the sound of my little boy breathing hard as he sleeps his fever and sore throat away, like the concentration on Zach's face as he does one more lesson in math.

Quiet.

So self-denied; like the man of the house arising early and heading out the door on the coldest day of the year, operating at 70% as he quietly stated to me, willing to give anything for his family.

Quiet.

So gifted. So humble. So gracious. Like our teachers at school, giving their time and selves again and again and again.

I want to be this.

I long to grow in Jesus, in quietness and in strength. For in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.

Happy New Year!!

Well, December has come and gone once again, with all the programs and gift exchanges and family gatherings and turkey. I love Christmas. I love the celebrations. But I'm always so excited to clean up after Christmas and get back to our own little schedule and just live.




We had super cold weather over Christmas with lots of -40C wind-chill. We used our fireplace constantly and drank lots of decadent hot drinks and cozied up under all the throws and blankets that we keep rolled up in a huge wicker basket by the fireplace. We didn't do any travelling in Dec except one very quick trip to Linden the second week of Dec when we went for the big Klassen gathering. I also ordered 'skadoodles' of books from the library for the month of December. We all read and read and read.




I think this was possibly the most low key Christmas we've had, ever, concerning gifts. The children didn't do gifts at school, so it was just a gift for one teacher, Mrs. Boese. And we didn't do gifts with Pat's family except when Alex unexpected came and spent 3 weeks here we all ended up giving him gifts, namely clothes. We did buy Pat's folks a gift though. And then my family didn't get together this year but mom came and spent 10 days with Bren and I. We did give each others families one game and we each got mom something. Then my own little family picked names again with the intention of doing something nice for who we picked each day until Christmas. This got rather humorous by the end! And we did $20 gifts, so nothing huge. It was good.




We got lots of socializing in, too. That's something we miss when we go to Crooked Creek at Christmas so this was special. We had supper one evening at Wendel's with Rennies and my mom. The boys went skating that afternoon too. One evening we had Arlen's and Justyn's over to play games and eat rich food. We had our special Ukrainian friends over another day. And New Year's Eve we went to Shanes with Ed & Cheryl and Arlens. It was just good. So good, in fact, that real life and work and school was a welcome sight to this weary mama.

WW tingle

{WW} tingle

Wintry Bliss

Crunchy snow, boots and jackets

Snow-pants, toque and gloves and scarf

Trails with little childish footprints

Snow pile, ice trails, smells of fire

Cocoa steaming, tingling noses

Steamy breath and echoes clear

Happy voices, children’s laughter

Snowboards, saucers, sleds and gear

Slippery slopes, bright-eyed faces

Tumbling past the trees and banks

Best of years and best of seasons

Grateful prayers, thoughts of thanks

Happy New Year!

It's a new year! Yeah! I love January! Here are some of my inspirations:

• A new pretty weekly planner.
• Goals of walking and cleaning.
• Gorgeous prairie sunrises on my morning busing trips.
• Snow covering the grey-brown land.
• Sledding with little children.
• Hot chocolate around the campfire.
• Menu plans.
• Candles burning.
• Clean folded laundry to put away.

I have wonderful things to be thankful for. But the reality is that we've had a pretty tough week and a half here. There was a huge blow-up at the Dean Esau gathering that resulted in babysitting and having Trevor & Alex here a lot and at Jeffs and folks. Our last week of holidays was painful.

Yesterday Robin spent just three hours with me and it was enough. I can't see change happening - ever... but that's where I need to trust and leave things in God's hands.

I've been reading Discipline by Elisabeth Elliot and it's just such a wonderful inspiration. Just do the next right thing. That's all. And I don't always know what that is.

So with joy and happiness on one hand and overwhelming burdens on the other we face another year. I have no new year's resolutions. I just pray I will have discernment and energy to do and say the next right thing.