Love Makes the World Go 'Round

Yesterday we attended a gathering with church members, and the topic was "what helps or hurts human relationships?" Many people gave very helpful information, and I thought I'll share it, as a reminder to us how important our actions, words, and even "Christian image" are when we relate to others in the Christian and secular world. The first thing is of course, the Golden Rule. Do to others as you would have them do to you. This is our best way of healthy relationships. Along with that is putting the best construction on others, and assuming the best of them, rather than assuming the worst, getting our feelings hurt and stewing about our hurts to everyone except the person who (perhaps unintentionally) hurt us. The next is, if we have a problem with someone, or something someone said, we need to pray for them for love and forgiveness, and then either go to them and seek to make things right, or let it go and forgive them. (it's hard to stay mad/hurt when you instead spend that time in prayer) Being aware of what we say is also important. I've found that moving to a new place has really caused me to watch my words, because I often say things that are misinterpreted because people don't know when I'm kidding, being sarcastic or serious. This has caused confusion for me, because I'm just being me, but have hurt people unintentionally in the process. The last thing I can remember from the discussion is to love each other unconditionally as Christ loved us. Love those who are not easy to love, love those who have caused you pain, treat everyone with love even though you may not want to. "Love covers a multitude of sins", as we all desire to be loved, no matter of our past or present sins. One more thing...give compliments. They make everyone feel better and a meaningful compliment goes a long way... as I stated in my "Country Village lady" blog.

The Pleasure of Soup

While we still lived in Arizona, and I was dragging my feet to move up here due to the long dreary winters, Greg reminded me that one plus would be the amount of days that I could make soup. He loves to eat it, and I love to make and eat it, so it all works out for us. So, we moved up here, and I started exploring the options of soup. In Arizona you make chili, maybe once a year (it just isn't the same on a warm day), and the opportunities for experiementing just didn't happen. I didn't really cook much in my life before then, although Alberta and Alaska would have been perfect for soup too. Today as I was heating up leftover soup for lunch, I again (as I do everytime I eat soup) pondered what makes it so wonderful. Leftover soup has the added benefit of the blending of flavors, and the heat just seems to warm your soul right down to the core. There are so many types of soup, that I love experimenting with each style and it seems you just can never go wrong, no matter how many things you add or subtract (within reason of course). Soup is also often cheap to make, and the smell as it simmers in the slow cooker all day can't be beat. It makes it taste all the better at supper time. Homemade bread is best with it, but usually I don't have any so biscuits suffice well. Everytime I try I new soup, I declare it my favorite (this week it's Kendra's bean soup in the Kurtti cookbook, with my own garden veggies added) and then the next time I try another new one, it becomes my favorite. So, despite the coming of the rain this season, I look forward to hundreds of heartwarming bowls of soup, each one special in it's own way.

The Country Village Lady

Due to my youngest sons itching, sleep issues, allergies, etc., I've had to visit our local health food store, The Country Village, alot more often than I have wanted to admit this past year. Trying to find foods he could eat (wheat free teething biscuits, anyone?), things to make his eczema go away, things to help him sleep, things to help his digestion, etc. Every time I'd go in, I'd skeptically try to find something new to try in hopes that it would help. And pretty much every time I went, there was this clerk named Patty who would comment on how good the boys were, how cute they were, what good helpers they were, and so on. I never thought about it until much later, but it really gave me a boost to hear those things, as it was a long depressing winter with a sleepless baby and a Mom who didn't know what to do. The pediatrician was of no help, and most advice given was meant to be helpful but didn't help. The Mommy guilt of a having a baby who itched most of the time, and woke up usually 10 times a night (at least) had taken it's toll and I think that's where much of my prayer skeptism came in, because nothing seemed to help or make anything better. Anyways, just this week I was in Country Village again, and the boys each had a bottle they were carrying for me to the checkout, when Patty again commented on what good helpers they are, and how wonderful it is to let them help, and how she loves it when we come in the store as it really brightens her day. I finally had a chance to tell her it was she who brightened my days last winter (and I ended up crying as I was telling her that), as I usually ended up in the store in a last ditch effort to try something new this time. When she would say nice things to me, it made me feel like "yes, I can do it" rather than being downhearted because nothing ever seemed to be looking up. I have a calendar and it says on it "Never underestimate the power of a kind word". That totally sums up Patty at the Country Village. I am thankful to report that the last treatment plan with James is working, and he is almost itch-free and is sleeping through the night (most of the time).

A "good" cat story

Just this afternoon, Greg and I were talking of how we are to assist keep a conversation going this evening between 2 people that don't know each other. Concluding that we need to find things these 2 have in common would be very helpful and the thought came that a cat story usually is a great ice breaker and I thought I'd share my few with you. (they are true, morbid, and a bit gory...I wish I had loving kind ones, but unfortunately those times with cats usually get forgotten, and these awful ones get remembered). The first is about our childhood cat MewMew (this would be Amy's story). She was a kitten when we got her, and Amy played with her constantly. Dressing her up in doll clothes, feeding her with a bottle, the works. She was a favorite kitten and coincidentally she met her fate just as we were about to go on our first camping trip with our new travel trailer. We were all so excited to get going, as we hadn't been camping in years, and were all loaded up ready to go. As my Dad started the car, we heard a yowl from under the hood, and yes, MewMew had gotten caught in the fan belt and was all mangled up. Now what to do....we're ready to go camping, and not to the vet at such a time. So, she seemed fairly 'stable' but unable to walk. We put her in our dog house (the safest place we could think of) with food and water and blankets and regretfully left on our trip. It was not an enjoyable trip. All of us kids tried to have fun, but all I remember of the trip was laying awake in my sleeping bag for hours praying that MewMew would be alright. Well, when we got home she was gone. We looked all over for her, thinking a coyote probably got her, but finally found her curled up behind the deep freeze staying warm. We're not sure how she dragged herself across the yard, but somehow she did. What a trooper. I do believe we had to put her down then, because of her leg injuries were too much. And that was the end of MewMew. The next cat story is mine. I was about 6 and on the farm my Dad had given us kids instructions to knock down any barn swallow nests we saw, to keep the birds from building nests under the eaves of the house/shop/barn. So, one day I diligently was following instructions and got a long broom, knocked down the nest and it was full of baby birds. There they lay on the ground wriggling about and I had no idea what to do. This was not anticipated. As I stood there wondering what to do, our cat came along and gobbled them all up. Well, problem solved. But, just then, Mom called us in to dinner. I went in as I was told, but didn't have the heart to tell anyone that I was a baby bird murderer, nor explain why my appetite had suddenly left. (It was actually years before I had the nerve to tell anyone what I had done.) The last story belonged to my cousin Susan. She loved to tell this story to embarass her dad and humiliate her mom in front of company, especially at the dinner table. The story goes that one cold snowy night, their family was late for the Christmas program and her dad went careening out of the driveway only to drive over their beloved cat. In his haste, he didn't stop and when the program was over and they came back home, there was their cat, flattened and frozen solidly to the driveway...a real challenge to deal with now. I actually do recall many good memories of having cats, since we always did (Priscilla was our favorite we had her for many years), but somehow life for cats on the farm is quite risky and these stories tell of it. So, that's the end of this lengthy, uplifting saga from my childhood. I don't think I'll share those stories at dinner tonight....