On December 20/15 Stu Weber took these pictures of me and Trina’s family.
And this morning Linda Worth passed this picture on to me, taken about 37 years ago –
I love these pictures!
Three Christmas Miracles
This has been my Christmas of miracles. Three happenings that make me feel so warm and loved!
Setting the stage:
At the beginning of this month I got a letter from the property management company of my condo corporation stating that the Board of Directors has hired a night-time security person for the building and the additional cost to me would be $58/mo beginning January 1/16. This is on top of the $17/mo increase we had on November 1/15. For me, an extra $75/mo in living expenses is very significant! How could I ever pay that and still save money for my twice yearly trips to California? And I would really like to get my sewing machine fixed. And I’d hoped to sometime save enough money to buy a new camera. I deliberately chose to work about 25/wk for pay. I try very hard to live within my means. I am extremely careful about making purchases. But how could I manage this?
Miracle #1
Wednesday morning at work, Nancy (pastor) and Kathy (treasurer) informed me that the Leadership Team at FMC had decided to increase both my and Tracy’s (custodian) salary to $20/hr because we are worth it! For me a more than 10% increase. Thank you, First Mennonite Church!
Miracle #2
I prefer to give my daughter money for Christmas, to buy a membership at the Children’s Discovery Museum instead of giving my grandchildren more toys. But this year, with the Canadian dollar so devalued against the American dollar, my $150 would barely break $100 USD.
On Christmas Eve, at our Burkard family gathering, my brother-in-law, Peter, handed me five twenty dollar US bills! He had been going some of through Vati’s papers (my father-in-law died ten years ago) and found $300 USD. He kept one hundred, gave his brother and me each $100. So I was able to give Trina $100 USD and $50 CAD for the kids’ Christmas gift.
Miracle #3
Back in July, when I spent a weekend with friends in Southampton, while walking on the beach I put a rock into my camera bag, carefully covered it with the microfibre cloth I carry to clean the lens. My intent was to crochet a cover for it. All would have been well if I’d removed the stone when I returned from my walk. I didn’t. The next morning, again walking on the beach, taking photos, I continually put my camera, lens first into the camera bag without the lens cover. By the time I’d covered two kilometers the lens had a couple of terrific scratches. Depending on how the light hit the lens it could totally ruin the picture. But unable to buy a new camera I continued to use my Fuji.
On Christmas morning my children surprised me with a new Canon EOS Rebel 5T, with two lenses – 18-55mm and 75-300 mm, and a camera bag big enough to keep the stones separate from the lenses! Thank you, Simon and Christine, Trina and Gary! You are the best kids a mother could have!
I am deeply grateful to God for this season of miracles!
Gingerich Gathering 2015
Once again we gathered at Queen Street Commons for food and fellowship (5 pictures taken by Martha):
Ripley’s Aquarium
Yesterday my daughter-in-law, Christine, and I headed to Toronto to go to Ripley’s Aquarium with Trina, Gary, Mina and Volker. We had a good time!
Stranger Danger
This afternoon Billie and I went for a walk after 3:00 pm. I wanted to check if the stuffed animals were still at the end of the street (they were) and to let Billie run. After she had a good run we headed into Concordia Park.
When we crossed the bridge we met two young girls. They asked to pet my dog, so I stopped. They then told me that two bigger girls had been hassling them. In fact, a third bigger child had joined the first two and were they were headed in our direction. Emma and Abby were scared. They asked if I would walk with them. So I did.
I misunderstood where they lived — they didn’t want to tell me exactly, because I was a stranger. They’d been warned about “stranger danger” but decided that I was OK. Anyway I led them back toward the west end of Avalon, the opposite direction from home, as it turned out. The bigger kids followed us for awhile, but then disappeared. Emma wanted to play in the park but Abby wanted to go home. They asked if I could stay with them in the park, but just then Emma’s iPhone timer sounded — it was time for them to go home. They still wanted me to stay with them (“can we pretend you are our grandma?”), so I walked back with them to Stirling Ave. Then they felt safe to go the rest of the way home.
I thought it was interesting that “stranger danger” has been ingrained when kids are more likely to be hurt by someone they know. [How do you teach a child to be safe within their own family/environment?] I wonder why they decided they could trust me. [How do you know whom to trust? Is a person with a pet more likely to be kind?] I also found that they loved to scare themselves. [Because of this was there really anything to fear from these bigger kids?] They told me about many things they’d been scared of in the last 24 hours, from sleeping in the basement (“I thought I was going to die”) to smelling smoke and decided someone was burning a body!
I commend their parents for giving these ten-year-olds the freedom to explore their environment — they obviously were not well acquainted with the area, especially the forest and park. And they did have a phone, I’m sure they could have called for help if they really needed it. I’m glad they were able to approach a stranger and give voice to both their discomfort and a solution and ask for my help.
O God, protect those two very sweet girls!