Happy New Year!

I'm happy to report that yesterday was a much better day than the day before. Wayne spent the entire day playing with Mitchell & Ty . . . that was a HUGE help! I got lots accomplished.

Today I've got more to do, but I'm not even sure if my company will be arriving tonight or not, due to an impending snowstorm.?. I'm praying it doesn't happen. I really need the food to be eaten by someone other than myself.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

P.S. The mechanics finally got a look at our truck . . . the pvc lines that deliver oil from one location to another (don't ask: I'm mechanically challenged), froze in the extreme cold last week and so they thawed the lines and changed the oil. The bill isn't TOO huge; however, labour is not covered in warranty and an oil change on a diesel truck doesn't come cheap. All I can say is thank goodness Wayne got his overtime back. We're only up a little creek with a little paddle.

Gripe

I really shouldn't be blogging right now, but the tasks that are before me are too overwhelming at the moment, so I decided to bore you with a gripe session.

Wayne and I and the boys all have one week off before we return to our normal schedules. By normal I mean work and school. We have a couple of planned activities between now and then, but somewhere in the middle of all of that I've got lots to do and I'm not sure how I'm going to accomplish it all. Our planned activities involve two days of having friends/family over, and of course I want everything perfect.

But it won't be perfect.

My house is currently a disaster. We tidied up the basement this morning so that the boys could "move" down there with all of their Lego and army garb, instead of the current situation which is . . . my living/dining room area overtaken by Lego and army "stuff". While I don't mind them playing where I am (most of the time), it makes it rather difficult to get any cleaning done, such as dusting, vacuuming or washing the floors. So, their play is temporarily being moved to the basement. I say temporarily because no matter how hard I try for it to remain out of sight, it will slowly return. ("It" refers to their toys.) That's just what happens around here. And our basement is no place of luxury either. We are awaiting a time when we can install new laminate floor to replace the former carpet that was ruined by a sewer back-up nearly two years ago. That carpet is long gone, but the current tile floor, which was under the carpet, isn't really that fun to play on.

I've got dishes coming out of my ying-yang. My dishwasher is having issues, so therefore I am currently washing my dishes by hand, and these days my hands aren't moving fast enough to keep up with the mountain that keeps re-occurring beside my kitchen sink. How does that happen? I can't seem to keep up with all the dishes that we accumulate here on a daily basis. Obviously we eat too much. Or too often.

I'm doing laundry today as well. Why I chose to incorporate that task in with everything else I'm trying to do is beyond me. I must have taken stupid pills today. Which reminds me . . . I haven't taken my B100 vitamin complex yet today. Maybe that's why I feel so tired. And so overwhelmed. As soon as I'm done writing this post I'll take my vitamins. That should help.

In addition to the laundry I'm currently washing, I've got bins of clean laundry that need to be put away. They've been sitting there since last week. We've got too many clothes, too.

Our 2-year old truck is leaking huge puddles of oil. Wayne took it in to the city this morning by 7:30 a.m. and then called me at 7:35 a.m. to advise that I needed to come pick him up because it would be a couple of days before the mechanic can even look at the problem. The shop has only one diesel mechanic at the moment and apparently he is very swamped. We need the truck back by Sunday at the very latest. Wayne needs it on Monday to get to work. And we're all hoping and praying that this repair will be covered under warranty. It if isn't, we'll be up a creek without a paddle.

Ty needs to build a Lego car and has no instructions for it. Cry me a river.

I have a kitchen full of stuff that needs to be delivered to a family in need. Their house burned down a few weeks ago and some friends of mine and I have accumulated quite a bit of household and clothing items for them, which now sit in my kitchen. I've been calling the number where the items are to be delivered and I keep leaving messages, but no one returns my calls. I don't want to make a delivery attempt only to find that no one is home, but seriously, why was this person given as the contact if she's: a) never home to receive the items and/or; b) doesn't answer the phone or return my phone calls? Don't get me wrong. I'm more than happy to give all of this away. But the logistics are killing me.

Ty is hungry and needs a snack. Right. Now. Cry me another river.

My dog, Pepper is currently in heat and Harpo is in a constant state of "bark" due to her issue. Fortunately for us, he's a lot smaller than she is, so it isn't really possible for them to create Blue Heechons (Blue Heeler/Bichon cross). I have no idea if that breed actually exists, but if it does, I'd like to know how it was actually achieved.

On to another topic.

Like I'm sure you wanted to hear about my dog being in heat.

Here's news. Ty's crying about something to do with Mitchell. Yes, it's the third river he's cried for me in the time it has taken me to write this post.

I think I'm done venting now. But it still hasn't lessened the amount of work I need to do between now and Wednesday, which is when we're scheduled to have company over for New Years Eve. I haven't mentioned this yet, but why not add one more complaint to my pile? I'm exhausted. I wish I could go curl up beside my husband in bed and take a nap. Yeah. He went to lie down "for an hour" about 2 hours ago and I'm sure he has no intention of waking up until supper. But hey, these are his holidays . . . he can do whatever he wants.

I hope you're having a better day than I am.

A King is Born!

I know this is a couple of days early, but with the busy schedule I've got for rest of the week I thought I'd better get this greeting up for you all.

Merry Christmas to all of my blogging friends!

May you experience the true meaning of Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Saviour and King!

For The Person Who Has Everything

There are always a few people on our gift-giving list who baffle me with what we should buy them for Christmas. This year I have officially found a solution to the age-old problem of what to get someone who has everything, or in the very least, does not need more clutter in their home, office or personal space.

This year we decided to give gifts in honour of the recipient of the gift, by way of choosing items from the World Vision Gift Catalog. These gifts actually become an investment in the future of a child or family in a far-away place. You can print cards from the website or send an e-card to notify the recipient of the gift you've chosen for them.

Mitchell and Ty honoured their teachers today with the gift of Textbooks for a teacher in a third-world country. In many schools around the world, a teacher may have only one textbook for the entire class to share. And now there is a teacher in another country who will be blessed with more resources to assist in effective teaching, simply because there are more books to go around. The boys' teachers were thrilled to receive these gifts in their honour. I wasn't sure how they would respond to this, but they were both touched by the gesture.

We will be honouring some other special people with some more gifts this Christmas, and I'm so excited about it. And we've been the recipient of some gifts in our honour as well . . . I think that's pretty cool.

Only 8 More Sleeps!

Obviously that's not 8 more sleeps til Christmas . . . on the contrary, I am counting down the days until I get to reconnect with Bible school girlfriends from 18 years ago. There is a group of us (4 who consistently attend, 2 or 3 more that attend when possible), who, at least twice a year, usually at Christmas and during the summer, get together and eat, talk and drink (no, we're not drinking alcohol . . . Diet Coke is my preference, thank-you-very-much!).

This year we plan to meet on December 20th. First we are going to hit the cheap movie theatre and watch Mamma Mia . . . provided it's still showing then (I hope so! I hope so!). Following that we will be partaking of the finest dining experience at my favorite (casual) restaurant in the world . . . Fuddruckers (where they make the World's Greatest Hamburger). We love the place because we get non-stop pop. And believe me, when us girls get together, we drink a lot of pop. And do a lot of yakking. Sometimes we're at Fuddruckers for 4 or more hours after we've finished eating, catching up on our lives, getting feedback and opinions on personal struggles, and basically just hanging out and having a grand old time.

I'm so excited about this . . .

I can hardly contain myself!

More Manna, Anyone?

Last night when Wayne went to work he was informed that his overtime status has been reinstated.

Wow . . . the manna is really "raining" down this week!

God's power to change circumstances never ceases to AMAZE me!

100%--Scratch that . . .

Further to yesterday's post . . . I found out today that my new contract commencing in January 2009 will be 1.0 FTE, which translates into a full-time, 100% position! That being said, in our school division, 100% FTE actually means 30 hours per week, not 40. But that's why I like working in a school--I don't want to work 40 hours per week. The 10 hours I'd be working at a regular full-time job can now be used for spending time with my family, baking, cooking, cleaning . . . you get the drift.

Update on December 12th: My new contract arrived in the mail, and contrary to what the administration in my school told me, my 100% is actually 95%. But I really don't mind. It's not going to make a whole lot of difference on my paycheque, and it means I get to spend 5% more time with my family.

The Real Story: My Manna from Heaven

Two months ago Wayne got notice that he would not be permitted to work more than eight hours each day. In other words, NO OVERTIME. This notice was brought about by the fact that he had crossed the owner of the company he works for; he reported a very unsafe work environment to Operational Heath and Safety, which did not sit well with the superpowers of the company. The other employees, however, were (and still are) grateful for Wayne's initiative in trying to solve ongoing safety issues. But they weren't stripped of their opportunity to work overtime--only Wayne was.

Before I continue, I should mention that at the time of this notice, we relied heavily on Wayne's overtime income. He was consistently putting in 2 hours of overtime each day and without it, it's a struggle. Not to mention, my job was cut by 25% at the beginning of September, and since I was not approved for unemployment insurance for the months of July and August, September and October were proving to be a financial struggle. Add into the mix the news of Wayne's complete lack of overtime pay and it equalled one big mess as far as I was concerned.

The day Wayne came home and informed me that he was no longer allowed to work overtime (nor make-up any time he missed due to illness, appointments, etc.), I was upset. Very upset. I saw a very bleak picture of our financial state and questioned as to why this had to happen. "Why now, God?" is all I could utter through my tears of frustration. I was just beginning to catch up on all our bills that had begun to lag behind from the summer, and then this news was thrown at me.

October is actually a blur to me. I'm not sure how we made it, but we did. Somehow. We still ate, drove, and managed to keep our telephone, power and energy connected. I know this is sounding dramatic, but seriously, this is how it was for us. Wayne continued to look for other employment, which he has been doing for several months now, and when something "too good to be true" was a possibility, I believed the answer to our prayers was a job that Wayne had been semi-short-listed for. However, that dream came to a crushing end quite quickly. So, life went on.

And I kept praying that God would give direction; give provision; give hope in a seemingly hopeless situation.

One of Wayne's supervisors told him after the initial mini-war over the Occupational Health and Safety issue that the owner "has it in for you now and is planning to make your life miserable so long as you work here. I'd suggest looking for another job." To which Wayne replied, "I'm looking." However, here we are, two-and-a-half months later and Wayne is still employed by the same company. Things are getting better for him as far as the owner is concerned. Some days it almost seems like the whole incident has blown over. Some days it doesn't.

Now that you have a synopsis of what life has been like for us this fall, I'm going to speak to what this post is really about, and that is of God's provision in ways that are unexpected and most certainly, undeserving (due to my bad attitude towards Wayne's workplace and thinking that God was somehow punishing us for something . . . I really don't like tests of faith. Who does?).

Exodus 16:4 says, "Then the LORD said to Moses, I will rain down bread from heaven for you." Since having to live on less, God has been sending "nourishment" to us from heaven as we have been wandering in our own type of "wilderness" day by day. In small and big ways, God is revealing to me that it is His plan that matters, and I do not need to worry and fret over what cannot be changed. This has been a HUGE lesson for me in the area of trust. I know, I know. I seem to always be in a trust-learning mode. It's the issue I struggle with most. And it's an area that Satan really likes to wreak havoc with in my life.

Three months ago I was not aware of the following events that have or will take place in my life, which clearly display God's provision as "Manna from Heaven" to me (and my family):

~I was offered work at the beginning of November for one week doing inventory at a warehouse. I worked my normal day shift at school and as soon as Wayne got home from work, I would leave for my inventory job. While this was very physically draining, it was fun and I learned and earned at the same time.
~A friend of mine who is a foster mom to two boys aged 3 and 5 called me out of the blue (I haven't seen her for over a year) and asked me to provide respite to her boys once a month, which she is supplemented for and therefore pays me to do this. I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that I'm being paid and in return my boys get an extended play date!
~My student and I will most likely be travelling to a new work placement after Christmas, which is almost twice as far away as we travel now, which means my mileage claims will be higher. That means I'll receive more supplemental income for fuel.
~As Wayne and I both drive to our places of work, high fuel costs which began to soar over the summer, have been hard on the pocketbook. However, the current price of a litre of gasoline as of today, is 79.9 cents ($2.37/U.S. gallon). It hasn't been that low since Mitchell was born! At the beginning of this school year it cost me around $56.00 to fill my tank. Now, it costs $38.00. Similarly, Wayne was paying $160 per tank and now he can fill it for less than $100.
~Wayne was "allowed" to work some overtime this past week. The owner's heart and attitude seems to be softening.
~Beginning in January, my 75% job will increase to 90-95% of full-time hours (the small details of the new contract have not yet been finalized). The increase in hours is due to another E.A. requesting one day off per week. I will be working in her position and have the opportunity to work in the school with elementary students, for which I am grateful.

So, as you can see, the above changes, which were completely unforeseen at the time of Wayne's bad news at work, have come as a result of God's provision. His manna from heaven. And guess what? The total increase of our income due to the above pieces of "manna" total approximately the same amount of money as when Wayne worked overtime on a daily basis. But what's better now is the fact that I get to spend more time with my husband and the boys get to spend more time with their dad!

God is FAITHFUL!

Manna from Heaven

Sometime this weekend I'm going to post on how God is taking care of us in a very real way. I don't have time to go into all the details . . . but stay tuned. And have a great Friday!!!

Coalition or Demolition?

NDP Leader Jack Layton, right, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, centre, and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe talk to the media after signing their coalition deal beneath a painting of the Fathers of Confederation on Parliament Hill, on Dec. 1, 2008. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)

While I normally do not like to address the issue of national politics on my blog, I must say that the recent coalition of parties attempting to takeover the current leadership of our nation is not sitting well with me. I wish it were just a bad dream that I'd wake up from with everything back to the way it was on November 30th. I don't have a good feeling about this. That's all I'm going to say.