Our Town Peace on Earth Brian Doerksen

written in response to the Sandy Hook massacre of innocent children. As this unthinkable tragedy happened in the season of advent – it awakens our deep longing for peace – especially peace for our innocent children, and it reminds me of the massacre of innocents from the original Christmas story.

Our Town (Peace on Earth)

The news rips through my heart
Twenty children dead
Innocent children

A mad man takes a gun
To make us all pay
Sandy Hook’s children
Violently taken

The flags at half mast
Our minds cannot grasp this senseless loss
The flags at half mast
Resolve is now cast until change comes
Our children need change now

Newtown is our town
Newtown is our town
Our children need love now

Newtown is our town
Newtown is our town
Our children need peace now

They need
Peace on earth
Peace on earth
For every boy and girl

Peace on earth
Peace on earth
All across our world

I recall the ancient news
The massacre of boys
Innocent babies

A mad king wields his sword
Because he’s afraid
Their harmless children
Violently taken

The sound of weeping
Rachel grieving for her own
A voice in Ramah
Unthinkable trauma; senseless loss
Her children are no more

Bethlehem’s our town
Bethlehem’s our town
Children need peace to grow

Newtown is our town
Newtown is our town
Our children need peace now
They need

Peace on earth
Peace on earth
For every boy and girl

Peace on earth
Peace on earth
All across our world

... help me know YOU are near ...

Draw me close to you
Never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear you say that I'm your friend
You are my desire
No one else will do
Cause nothing else can take your place
To feel the warmth of your embrace
Help me find the way
Bring me back to you

You're all I want
You're all I've ever needed
You're all I want
Help me know you are near

thankful IN the hard times

After almost a year of not blogging, it occurred to me that the reason I didn't continue was that I didn't have a purpose ... duh! ... so now I do ... therapy!

So this week has been excruciatingly difficult ... possibly the hardest ever in my life.  I've spent hours praying, grieving, praying, crying out, weeping ... and this afternoon I totally broke down - crying, yelling at God till there was nothing left.  Peace came ... of sorts ... or maybe I was just worn out.

Whatever it was, I've had several hours of numbness ... which is fine.

Looking through all the pinterest inspirational quotes, I came upon the above and decided that since my remaining in a place of negativity, anger and regret was wrecking poison on my spirit, I would put on an attitude of gratitude ... even, though that's the last think I feel like ... work yourself into a feeling as the old saying goes. 

SO  -  I'm MOST greatful for GOD ... without Him I am nothing.
 - for a roof over my head
 - my family ... I SO love them all
 - a good car
 - a job I love
 - creative mind
  - compassion
 - forgivennes
 - grace
 - mercy
 - kindness
 PEACE

"GIVE THANKS in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:18
note he said "in all" ... not 'for all' ...

I Just Won 39 Swag Bucks on www.swagbucks.com !!

In less than a year, I've earned $35 worth of Amazon.com gift cards ... just because I've been using Swagbucks as my primary Search go-to ... something we all do anyway!

King of Kings ...

THIS is just a rehearsal ... everyone everywhere praising God!

... between working on Summer Day Camps and prepping for "A Christmas Carol" and "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" I decided that I would conciously create a lovely summer, catching random vacation days here and there where I could get them! 

I also did something I've never done before ... create a short term (between July and mid September) Bucket List:

• Have a water-gun fight with my grandkids!   (check /)
  
• Go to the Vancouver Art Gallery   (check /)
  
• Go to IHOP for Harvest Grain and Nut Pancakes!   (check /)
  
• Visit “Pie In the Sky” in Chilliwack!  (check /)
  
• SWIM or WALK for 1 hour every day (a necessity for the above 2 to occur!!)   (check / ... well, maybe not 1 hr each day, but close :)
  
• Get a KITE and fly it at Boundary Bay!   (check /)
  
• Wear a SUNDRESS for at least half a day!    (check /  ... but no pics!)
  
• Watch the SUNSET as many times as possible - and take pictures of as many as possible!    (check /)
  

... so here is ...

My 2010 Summer in pictures :)

in June Zavier had his end of season Guitar recital 

... he is getting pretty good ... I enjoy his Beatles songs!

(a sunset as I'm driving home from the guitar recital :)

♪ ♫  "Summer Time ... and the livin' is easy ..." ♫ ♪

 

hung out with the Crofts & Tanners at Boundary Bay ... LOVE the ocean! 

 

this was a clock in a Birch Bay cabin where 

I was blessed to be able to stay for a few days!

the adorable True kids keeping cool on the grass after a hot summer day!

an afternoon at Aldergrove Lake Park with the Crofts

... and a little Letterboxing too!

my surprise blessing this summer was being able to buy

a 'new' 2006 Ford Focus!

I LOVE Blueberries ...

I bought 25 lbs and froze most ... yummy!

spending 4 days with the Tanners at Cultus Lake was awesome!

hanging out on the beach .... 

frisbee in the water!

water gun fights!

evening BBQ picnics at the trailer ...

morning breakfast while dad & mom sleep in :)

Zavier and his dad enjoy a little go-cart race ...

the girls and Chellé are right behind them!

and what summer vacation would be complete without Mini Golf!

 

and a HOLE-IN-ONE for me!!

night time fun with GLOW STICKS!

Visiting the PNE with the Crofts:

Before school started again, Miranda, Zavier and I went out for dinner
to iHop and then to the Vancouver Art Gallery!  We were there over 3 hrs, 

in fact, we closed it down! ... nobody wanted to leave!

in September, Luc and Pam, Dar, Scott, Donelda and myself

went out to experience "Pie in the Sky" at the Chilliwack Airport!  

A few days later Scott went back to working on the Cruise Ships.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I had a GREAT summer!
I am truly blessed with amazing family and friends.

YIKES! Where DOES the time go?

I cannot believe that it will be April 1st in just a few days!  

The last 3 months has been a blur with so much activity and some emotional roller coaster ride.  But I've purposely taken time over the past week to "be still and know ..." and to ponder and focus on the IMPORTANT areas of life.  I have a sense of calm, peace and anticipation for the road ahead.  

Although the next 2 months will be busy also ... it's good to KNOW that "I AM" holds my hand and will be faithful as always and forever.

Happy, Joyful, Hopeful 2010

I remember growing up when my parents and older people would say, "the older you get, the faster the years go by!"  I know now exactly what they meant!  It's very true ... and so as we move into yet another year, the only 'resolution' which I will make is to APPRECIATE and VALUE every single day.  I find when I write things out, I make it a conscious decision ... like a road map!  So here's to a most blessed year, filled with God's Love, Grace, Peace and Blessings! 

JOY to the World ...

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called ... 

...Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6

... through the eyes and hearts of children ...

I am incredibly blessed to be grandma to 8 wonderful children ... and one of my favorite things to do leading up to Christmas is seeing them in their Church and/or School Christmas Pageants!

This is just one little sample of what I've been blessed with this past week!

"On the first day of Christmas .... "

 Considering this is the beginning of the proverbial “12 days of Christmas” … this absolutely has to be today's music pick … even if this song annoys you, I challenge you not to enjoy this version by "Straight No Chaser” - an incredibly talented men's a-cappella group.

Gabriel’s Message

This song is absolutely beautiful ... these YouTube versions are obviously not as good as the recorded ... but a wonderful song live with meaningful lyrics:

The Angel Gabriel from heaven came
His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flames
"Oh hail" has said he to Holy Maiden Mary
Most highly favored maid … Gloria

Foreknown a blessed mother thou shalt be
For generations loan and honnaly
Thy son shall be Immanuel th'as years forsawt =(forseen)
Most highly favored maid … Gloria

The gentle Mary neatly bowed the head
"To me, be as it pleaseth God" she said
"My soul shall whole and magnify this holy maid"
Most highly favored maid … Gloria

Of her Immanuel, the Christ was crossed
His Bethlehem all honor Christmas ghost
As everyone through out the world will Heaven save
Most highly favored maid … Gloria

Another live performed version is here ...

Songs of the Season!

One of my favorite things about this time of year is the MUSIC!  There are so very many absolutely wonderful songs that celebrate the true meaning of CHRISTmas.  And I think it's pretty amazing that even people who may not consider themselves "Christian" ... or even religious ... join in and sing songs of adoration and praise to the and about the ONE who we celebrate.  


I am going to attempt to ration down my favorites to a special "pick of the day" over the next couple of weeks.  So here - to satisfy the "rocker girl" in me (hahaha) is today's choice:  Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Canon Rock

Star of Wonder

Even after creating 17 pages for the CPA book (see post below :)  I loved these colors and design so much ... AND they helped me get into the Spirit of the Season ... I created 9 ATCs!  

But now I have to clean up my living room - which has been (and is) my craft space ... and get the decorations up!

Glorifying and Praising God!

I am a member of several Paper Arts Groups ... one which is Christian Paper Artists ... I joined their Christmas Story Chunky Book project and created 17 identical pages based on Luke 2:20 ... here is the end result (of my submission!)  Each page is between 3” and 4” in size.   I've mailed it off to the host who will put everyone's pages together into a 17-page coil bound book and mail each one their own book!  Can't wait to have the whole project in my hand to admire and enjoy!

The phrase "glorifying and praising God" stood out for me when I choose Luke 2:20 as my contribution to this project. One of my favorite backgrounds to work on is paint chips - so when I found one with the color "night watch" it was perfect!

I have a beautiful swirly star stamp which I embossed with silver glitter along with a cross and star stamp, added a punch star and 2 small tags: one has ""Yeshuat Tsion" which means both "salvation from Zion" and "salvation to Zion."  The other tag has an image of 4 dancing/worshipping shepherds and on the back says "The Original Praise Team." 

The back of the page shows an old map of the region.

Celebrating 50 years!

On Friday, November 13th I attended the ‘meet and greet’ evening of my alma mater high school, Port Coquitlam Secondary School  … which was later renamed Terry Fox Secondary School in his honor as it was his alma mater also … exactly 10 years following me! 

me on my Graduation Day in 1966

ALL the pictures of the 50 years of Graduation Classes 
hang on the hallway walls of the Terry Fox school.

(because of the lights, this was the best picture I was able 
to get of my grad class ... can you spot me on the front row? )

I didn’t know exactly what to expect.  Firstly, I was disappointed that we wouldn’t be able to meet … or at least SEE … the old school facility on Wellington Street who’s halls and classrooms I’d walked and learned in from grade 8 till graduating in grade 12 all those many years ago!   Because of overcrowding, a brand new school was built on Riverwood Gate … and it is indeed a beautiful facility.  When you drive up and walk into the school, there is truly a sense of pride that you – and everyone there feels as we realize that we shared a time and space with the hero whose name and spirit fills the place (Terry Fox was in fact, voted #2 of the Greatest Canadians.) 

Thanks to facebook, I’ve reconnected with a few of my high school graduating class and I knew at least Elizabeth (MacDonald) Crossley was going to be attending.  A little side note here – when we first reconnected (via facebook), I told Elizabeth that my school annuals had been lost in one of my life’s many moves … and she graciously photocopied the pages of our graduation class and mailed them to me (what a lovely thing to do).

Elizabeth and I

Since the reunion was spanning the full 50 years which the school has been in existence, there were a LOT of people there and everyone was encouraged to wear a name tag, including the year they graduated … which was a big help.  After all these years, nobody was going to be too proud to be caught looking at the names and years!!  It wasn’t long before Elizabeth and I found each other, then we found Wendy Hudson and Arlene (Miss Embree) Dodding – my home economics teacher.  I ran into Skip Mint as well as Mike Forrest and Karen (Friskie) Forrest – who married and are still very active in the Port Coquitlam community.  That was about all from our class. 

Me and "Miss Embree"

Then there were the friends I knew more from the community and living in Port Coquitlam during that time – like Renata and Anita Wessel … what a hoot to meet up with them too.  Quite a few people recognized my last name (but I didn’t know them all … it was usually a friend of my brother or sister and I pointed them towards where I’d last seen Tim or Grace over the evening!)

Me and Renata

The evening held one sad bit of news … I ran into the sister of a boy I’d had a crush on and when I asked about him, she said that he’d died when he was 23 years old.  I’ve thought of Ken many times over the years (who doesn’t wonder whatever happened to a high school crush?!) … and it made me sad that this sweet, gentle sensitive artist had died far too young.

Part way through the evening, we were all invited into the gymnasium for the ‘formal’ part of  the celebration.  Several of the past Principals greeted everyone (our Mr. Brandt has passed away since).  And the highlight of this time was when Fred Fox, Terry’s older brother took the podium to greet people.  It was a touching moment when he explained – for the benefit of those who’d known the school only as “Port Coquitlam Secondary School” – how the name change came about.  He stated that the school has always acknowledged that THAT was the school Terry graduated from and that it would always be acknowledged as the original school.  The pride and team spirit was always there and Terry was part of it when he was attending.  “Terry Fox Secondary School” is based on that history and foundation … and that it is and always will be an honor to be part of that history.

 

"I wanted to try the impossible and show it could be done."

Terry Fox

Cheers!