The line 'The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is the people.' from a song from childhood comes to mind. I love the people that make up our church.
I love looking out from the front the church and recognizing almost every single person in the church. I not only recognize them and know their names, I know them and I know about their lives. Some people I know better than others, but they are all a part of our church family.
Our greeting time during the service takes a long time because we like to greet as many people as possible. It is more than simply a 'hello.' Hugs abound and people catch up on the details they may have missed in the days since we were last together.
Pastor Dean and Lynne are wonderful. They take the time to be involved in each person's life, they truly care about each of us, and they are very committed to prayer. They are such a blessing to our entire church.
The ladies of our church. We meet for Women's Bible Study one Thursday a month where we pray for each other, share with one another, encourage each other, and genuinely enjoy fellowshipping together. We also have prayer meetings on the last Saturday of each month. The women live life together, willingly opening up to be vulnerable with each other and carrying one another's burdens.
Our worship team is made up of a variety of people who enjoy music and strive for excellence in leading people to easily worship the Lord through music during our service. We work at it, but we also have a lot of fun while practicing. We may not always be as efficient as we could be, but we also build relationships through our time together.
The leaders of our church: pastor, youth leader, elders, deacons, Sunday School teachers, and so many others. These are not just roles, they are real people. Thinking of this I can better understand the lists of names in Paul's letters as he greets different leaders in the church. Our are intent on growing in their individual relationships with God and encouraging others to do the same. They willingly serve, they are scripturally grounded, and they are truly a blessing.
Our marriage study on Sunday afternoons. Each participant not only shares what they have learned from the book we are studying, but willingly shares wisdom gleaned from life experiences.
Wednesday night Bible Study. This is a time of fellowship and digging into scripture. It is also a time to share prayer needs and encourage one another.
First Sunday Luncheon. We have a potluck after church the first Sunday of every month. There are some people who have specific dishes they always bring - some of these are favorites of others. I have been told by different people that I should always bring a certain dish, but the irony is different people tell me to always bring different things, so I do still mix it up. I like to send things home with people afterwards. It is interesting to eat with different people and have conversations that may not have otherwise happened after church on Sunday.
I love that our church looks out for each other, cooking meals for new parents, visiting each other in the hospital, bringing food to someone who just had surgery, making sure people are not alone on the holidays, and generally offering hospitality.
I love sharing meals with people from church: once in a while at my place, but more often elsewhere. People still like to take care of me and send me home with food, even if I wasn't coming over for a meal.
Our church is not overly large. A lot of these activities with people are with many of the same people. We interact not only on Sunday but throughout the week. I love that we are a family of believers and that we live life together. God created us for relationships and he placed us us together not only for our most important relationship with him, but also for relationship with the rest of his family.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Reflections on Being Sick
I take a long time to admit that I am actually sick enough to need a doctor. I got a sore throat on Tuesday evening, but not until Thursday evening did I even think about going to the doctor, and it wasn't until Saturday that I actually went to the doctor.
It is easier to teach school while sick than to have a sub.
A week ago Friday I woke up and my sore throat was worse than it had been and all I wanted to do was roll over and go back to sleep. I knew that I could call in sick, but that my principal would then want sub plans prepared in the hour and a half before school, which wouldn't allow me to sleep in anyway. I would also have to go take care of grades and such after school and recollect things after a sub. In addition I would have to reschedule the observation planned for that day. So, I went to school and taught anyway. I drank about three quarts of water during the school day, my observation went well, and I took care of all my work after school.
Going to the doctor on Saturday may be less convenient for them, but it eliminates the regular hassle of waiting for long periods of time, filling out paperwork, and all the regular stuff. The doctor was available to meet me, so I went to the back door, was checked for strep (negative), and then he called in my prescription (yay for free prescriptions at Super 1). I was home after the doctor and picking up meds just over an hour later. I still don't know how much it cost because his workers had to take care of it later and I will get the bill in the mail.
Being sick may not be fun, but it gave me a great excuse to sit around all weekend - and I had a three day weekend - and read novels. I did not really have any other work I had to do, so I read 2 and a half novels. My outings included going to the doctor, going downstairs to eat with friends, and going to church. Most of the rest of my time was spent on the couch.
Although I am usually hesitant to take advil, being sick gave me a reason to take it frequently. Even after I was taking antibiotics, the advil was good for the pain and the swelling. After the pain went away, I was hesitant to take advil for a slight lingering headache because I had taken so much of it recently and I don't want my body to get accustomed to it.
Taking antibiotics also gives me a good reason to eat yogurt everyday.
Teaching for a full day after a weekend of sitting on the couch reading can be difficult. I don't often think about how much energy it takes to talk, and enunciate properly, for an entire day.
As much as I might like to think that antibiotics make things better immediately, it wasn't until day 6 of taking them that my throat didn't hurt and I sounded normal again. I am glad the doctor prescribed it for 10 days and not just a week.
Although it was annoying to be sick, the timing actually worked out quite well with the long weekend. I am very thankful that I am generally a healthy individual, especially because I work with young children and encounter all sorts of small sicknesses at school. The last time I was sick and needed to visit the doctor was three and a half years ago when I had strep.
It is easier to teach school while sick than to have a sub.
A week ago Friday I woke up and my sore throat was worse than it had been and all I wanted to do was roll over and go back to sleep. I knew that I could call in sick, but that my principal would then want sub plans prepared in the hour and a half before school, which wouldn't allow me to sleep in anyway. I would also have to go take care of grades and such after school and recollect things after a sub. In addition I would have to reschedule the observation planned for that day. So, I went to school and taught anyway. I drank about three quarts of water during the school day, my observation went well, and I took care of all my work after school.
Going to the doctor on Saturday may be less convenient for them, but it eliminates the regular hassle of waiting for long periods of time, filling out paperwork, and all the regular stuff. The doctor was available to meet me, so I went to the back door, was checked for strep (negative), and then he called in my prescription (yay for free prescriptions at Super 1). I was home after the doctor and picking up meds just over an hour later. I still don't know how much it cost because his workers had to take care of it later and I will get the bill in the mail.
Being sick may not be fun, but it gave me a great excuse to sit around all weekend - and I had a three day weekend - and read novels. I did not really have any other work I had to do, so I read 2 and a half novels. My outings included going to the doctor, going downstairs to eat with friends, and going to church. Most of the rest of my time was spent on the couch.
Although I am usually hesitant to take advil, being sick gave me a reason to take it frequently. Even after I was taking antibiotics, the advil was good for the pain and the swelling. After the pain went away, I was hesitant to take advil for a slight lingering headache because I had taken so much of it recently and I don't want my body to get accustomed to it.
Taking antibiotics also gives me a good reason to eat yogurt everyday.
Teaching for a full day after a weekend of sitting on the couch reading can be difficult. I don't often think about how much energy it takes to talk, and enunciate properly, for an entire day.
As much as I might like to think that antibiotics make things better immediately, it wasn't until day 6 of taking them that my throat didn't hurt and I sounded normal again. I am glad the doctor prescribed it for 10 days and not just a week.
Although it was annoying to be sick, the timing actually worked out quite well with the long weekend. I am very thankful that I am generally a healthy individual, especially because I work with young children and encounter all sorts of small sicknesses at school. The last time I was sick and needed to visit the doctor was three and a half years ago when I had strep.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Random
I just spilled white hot chocolate on myself. The irony of the situation is that I recently did laundry, and more of the hot chocolate ended up on me than the couch. It would have been easier to wipe it off the leathery couch. Now I will have to try wipe my sweatshirt and jeans a little cleaner, but when they dry they may just end up smelling yummy. Whatever the case, it was worth it. The white hot chocolate was delicious! Thanks Abby.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
No School
One would think that a cancelled day of school in January would be due to a snow storm or some sort of winter weather. Well, school is cancelled tomorrow, but we have no snow or ice. We have temperatures of right around 70 F (20 C), thunderstorms, and lots of rain. I am not sure of the expected amount of rain, but at one point people were talking about 5 inches. I am glad that I left my small trash can under the drip in my classroom. Now, to decide what to do with an unexpected day off in the middle of the week - other than reconfigure my plans for the rest of the week.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Friday, December 28, 2012
Christmas Activity Pictures
Christmas Break has been filled with many fun and relaxing activities. I have enjoyed being back in the beautiful Bulkley Valley. It has also been a pleasure to be able to reconnect with friends through a variety of activities. Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days for just a glimpse of what I have been doing.
Here is a picture of Christmas cookie decorating from earlier this week. Dad, Janine, and I decorated the cookies together.
Yesterday morning the sun was shining nicely on the fresh snow on the ski hill. The entire mountain was beautiful, but I had the clearest view of the ski hill for a picture without leaving home.
After supper was the annual girls alumni volleyball. The senior girls had their team, and there were enough alumni to make 3 teams. We played games to 20 points. Our team started out by losing a couple of games, and then as we played the last team, we pulled off a win. Then we continued with a tournament style crossover for semi-finals and finals. We won our semi-final set and even came back to win the finals. Above is our team picture after our victory in the finals.
After the alumni games, the Reitsmas came over for goodies and games. We had 11 people and played cards and then telephone pictionary (aka fax machine). It was a great end to a fun day.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Christmas Traditions
Yesterday I got to take part in a variety of Christmas traditions in my hometown. These were not really family traditions, but more traditions within our church family and group of friends here.
I really enjoyed being able to go to my church here in Smithers. It was great to reconnect with some friends here. After the morning service was the annual lunch for post-high students (in the bulletin they listed it as 18-30+) at the Nanninga's house. The Nanninga's were involved with the youth when I was in middle school, and actually Elaine was my grade 3 teacher. I got a ride there with Sonia and we spent a couple of hours there with many different people. Each year it makes me feel a little older, especially this year when I saw at least one person there that I used to babysit - he is now a high school graduate. The afternoon was filled with visiting and a variety of delicious foods. I did not come even close to talking to everyone there, but it was fun to visit with different people.
Our evening church service on Sunday was our candlelight service. I enjoy being able to attend this special Christmas service at our church here. Through the years the number of candles used has decreased, but it is still a really neat service. There were eight candles on the organ, our advent candles, and eight candles leading up to the front door. These candles outside were actually in star shaped ice molds, which looked really neat. It was definitely cold enough outside to keep the ice frozen. The service was a combination of carols, special music, readings, scripture passages, and even video clips, which were all used to tell the story of Christmas.
After the service we stopped at home to pick up some goodies, and then headed to the airport to pick up my youngest sister, Janine. From the airport we headed to Lester's for the annual eggnog party. Jacquie makes a lot of great eggnog - some for the adults, and other for the kids - and everyone brings goodies to share. There are always a lot of people there, many of them are teachers from our school along with their families. Some of them were my teachers when I was in high school. The evening was a lot of fun, and until someone mentioned something about the time I had no idea how late it was. We left sometime after 11pm.
Sometime this afternoon, Janine and I will decorate some Christmas cookies. Mom already made the cookies, but we need them decorated for tonight. Tonight is another Christmas tradition that has very little to do with Christmas. Every year we have the Steenhofs over on December 24th for Chris' birthday. He is a teacher at our school, and the tradition started many years ago when my older sister Lynnea was in his class in 6th grade. This tradition involves good food, cake, visiting, and sometimes games.
Later this week, after Larissa and Bryan arrive, we will participate in another tradition - going out for breakfast on the day we open our gifts. We started this tradition when we were visiting relatives for Christmas. This gave us family time with just our family, and all of our family enjoys breakfast food.
I don't typically think of myself as having a lot of Christmas traditions, but these are all parts of Christmas vacation that I enjoy. I may also partake in some sledding and cross-country skiing while at home. I also plan to get together with some high school friends for tea at some point as well as play some hand and foot with Renee. I hope that you all have a wonderful time with family and friends this Christmas.
I really enjoyed being able to go to my church here in Smithers. It was great to reconnect with some friends here. After the morning service was the annual lunch for post-high students (in the bulletin they listed it as 18-30+) at the Nanninga's house. The Nanninga's were involved with the youth when I was in middle school, and actually Elaine was my grade 3 teacher. I got a ride there with Sonia and we spent a couple of hours there with many different people. Each year it makes me feel a little older, especially this year when I saw at least one person there that I used to babysit - he is now a high school graduate. The afternoon was filled with visiting and a variety of delicious foods. I did not come even close to talking to everyone there, but it was fun to visit with different people.
Our evening church service on Sunday was our candlelight service. I enjoy being able to attend this special Christmas service at our church here. Through the years the number of candles used has decreased, but it is still a really neat service. There were eight candles on the organ, our advent candles, and eight candles leading up to the front door. These candles outside were actually in star shaped ice molds, which looked really neat. It was definitely cold enough outside to keep the ice frozen. The service was a combination of carols, special music, readings, scripture passages, and even video clips, which were all used to tell the story of Christmas.
After the service we stopped at home to pick up some goodies, and then headed to the airport to pick up my youngest sister, Janine. From the airport we headed to Lester's for the annual eggnog party. Jacquie makes a lot of great eggnog - some for the adults, and other for the kids - and everyone brings goodies to share. There are always a lot of people there, many of them are teachers from our school along with their families. Some of them were my teachers when I was in high school. The evening was a lot of fun, and until someone mentioned something about the time I had no idea how late it was. We left sometime after 11pm.
Sometime this afternoon, Janine and I will decorate some Christmas cookies. Mom already made the cookies, but we need them decorated for tonight. Tonight is another Christmas tradition that has very little to do with Christmas. Every year we have the Steenhofs over on December 24th for Chris' birthday. He is a teacher at our school, and the tradition started many years ago when my older sister Lynnea was in his class in 6th grade. This tradition involves good food, cake, visiting, and sometimes games.
Later this week, after Larissa and Bryan arrive, we will participate in another tradition - going out for breakfast on the day we open our gifts. We started this tradition when we were visiting relatives for Christmas. This gave us family time with just our family, and all of our family enjoys breakfast food.
I don't typically think of myself as having a lot of Christmas traditions, but these are all parts of Christmas vacation that I enjoy. I may also partake in some sledding and cross-country skiing while at home. I also plan to get together with some high school friends for tea at some point as well as play some hand and foot with Renee. I hope that you all have a wonderful time with family and friends this Christmas.
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