Sharing

For several months, I taught Grade 1.

This was quite some time ago and I was taking over the maternity leave of a woman who is now a close friend.  These kids that I taught in Grade 1 are now sporting facial hair and driving vehicles, but that is another story for another day.  The point is that while I was teaching, these kids taught me a wonderful lesson.  Actually they often chanted this lesson in sing-song, squeaky Grade 1 voices: "sharing is caring" they would squeak, usually whilst holding out grubby hands to receive some sort of snack or goodie.

This lesson came back to me today when I read a poem entitled "Sharing".  Ironically, this poem is found inside a book that someone shared with me today.  Look at all that caring going on!

Here goes:

Sharing (Author Unknown)

There isn't much that I can do, but I can share my bread with you, and sometimes share a sorrow, too - as on our way we go.

There isn't much that I can do, but I can sit an hour with you, and I can share a joy with you, and sometimes share reverses, too - as on our way we go.

There isn't much that I can do, but I can share my flowers with you, and I can share my books with you an sometimes share your burdens, too - as on our way we go.

There isn't much that I can do, but I can share my songs with you, and I can share my mirth with you, and sometimes come and laugh with you - as on our way we go.

There isn't much that I can do, but I can share my hopes with you, and I can share my fears with you, and sometimes shed some tears with you, - as on our way we go.  

There isn't much that I can do, but I can share my friends with you, and I can share my life with you, and oftentimes share a prayer with you, - as on our way we go.

You and I can't erase hurts.  Only God can wipe away every tear.  But God has given us one another and surely we can do some sharing.  Can't we?

Like, a little food can go a long way.  As can moments of our time.

Let's not be too busy to stop and share our stories: our joy, our hope, our sorrows.

Let's be ready to share encouraging words, uplifted prayers, pieces of our life that show our love.  

Because, like some wise little people once told me, Sharing IS Caring.

BV

Dedicated to Freda O.  Thanks for sharing your books with me!

Pass It On

I don't know if you have this experience, but I do time and time again: as long as my head is up and I am paying attention, God is sending messages my way.  Messages of his constancy and his faithfulness, messages of his love and compassion, messages that remind me that he is with me always.

I don't know about you, but I need these constant reminders.

Maybe its because my mind is like a fluttering butterfly that flits to and fro....lighting upon one thought and then getting waylaid by another.  Maybe its because there are so many distractions slamming in upon my brain....children yanking on my clothes and saying, "Mom MOm MOM" in growing volumes, my phone buzzing and chirping to indicate that there are VERY IMPORTANT TEXTS THAT SHOULD BE ADDRESSED, LIKE, NOW; laundry that should have been folded several days ago because we have been out of socks for a while now and we are all wearing dad's socks which, incidentally, are too big....  There are so many distractions that dismantle any coherent thought that I may have been piecing together so very nicely.

I don't know about you, but I am so glad that God just keeps on sending his messages.
Messages of his love and care for a creation that is breath-taking.....my morning walk with the dog was back-dropped with an orange-splashed sunrise.  An evening walk with my Beloved hinted at a full-moon mysteriously peeking out from a moody, night sky.

Messages about delighting in the minutiae.....hanging out with my kids who MUST fill their pockets with chestnuts EVERY time we pass the chess-nut tree on our walks so that they can plant them and grow trees for tomorrow.

Gospel messages preached by a pastor that seems to have been written just for me.  "The more you embrace suffering," he intoned this morning, "the less it overpowers you..."  

Written messages straight out of God's Word or straight out of my daily devotional.  Tonight I tucked my big boys into bed.  Before I wrestled a kiss out of these pre-pubescent noodle-heads, I pulled out their evening devotional.  It's a beauty.  It focuses on one Bible verse each night and explains it in very simple language.  I opened the book, read today's verse and snickered.
"There you go again, God," I felt like saying.  Actually I did say, it in my heart-of-hearts...."there you go again, feeding me just what I needed to hear.  Completing a thought that was niggling away in the deepest, darkest recesses of my brain-matter."

Tonight our devotional was from 2 Corinthians 1: 3, 4.  Here it is for you to enjoy:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies 

and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, 

so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, 

with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  

For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share 

abundantly in comfort too.""  

A bit of a mouthful, right?   Now, from hanging out with my sports-minded kids, I have learned that we can find competition in pretty much anything.  Thereby, I noticed this:  Comfort - 6; Affliction/Suffering - 3.  Win goes to Comfort!   Woot!

Now, this Word-Nerd loves to investigate terminology so I googled The Message's translation of these same verses:

"All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah!  

Father of all mercy!  God of all healing counsel!  

He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, 

he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there 

for that person just as God was there for us.  We have plenty of hard times that come from 

following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort - 

we get a full measure of that, too."  

This life is hard.  Sometimes it just down-right sucks.  I know people who have experienced such grief and despair that they can't even GO THERE.  

But then God comes alongside and whispers, "I know.  It hurts, doesn't it?  I'm here.  I've got you."

And knowing a comfort that only God can truly and purely give....well, it's inspiring.  

Knowing His all-encompassing compassion - "I will wipe away EVERY tear," he tells us - it's motivating.  

I've felt His comfort and compassion.  I've felt His reassurances "Brigette, I am your refuge and strength; your very present help in trouble.  Brigette, I will go before you and be with you.  I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you.  Brigette, seek Me and I will deliver you from all your fears..."

Let me share these Truths with you.  

Now, go ahead and grab a firm hold onto these Truths!  Got 'em?  Now sling them with all your might against the Lies that have been building up inside of you.  

Be comforted by God's love.

Be reassured by His presence.

And keep your head up for all those messages He is sending your way.  

*************************************************

I would like to share some exciting news.  Remember all the "gain outta pain" stuff from several blog-posts ago?  No?  Well, I'm pretty sure I said something like:  "suffering often creates a space for opportunity".  I've seen it constantly where people find their path/ their meaning / their destiny, if you will, through or after a tragedy or a trial.   

Well, this Word-Nerd has had a secret dream of being a Speaker.  And God has plopped several opportunities right down into my lap.

"Thank-you, God!"

I am so humbled to have been asked to speak at an up-coming Women's Conference and then an Encouragement Cafe put on by the Christian Counselling Centre.  Also, 100 Huntley Street - a Christian daily tv show - will be interviewing me on Oct. 24 at 9:30am, asking me to share.....

God came alongside me and my family during our hard times with cancer, during our hard times with mental illness.  

He gave comfort upon comfort.  

And before I knew it, he was bringing me alongside others who were going through hard times.....it is my honour to share some Comfort.

I want to pass it on.

bvh

"Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always."  

- Psalm 105: 4

Je me Souviens

Several weeks ago, my family was treated with a five-day cottage stay.

This cottage was cozy, comfortable and picturesque.  It was neatly nestled among trees and located near Mont Tremblant in the province of Quebec.

Our family had registered for this vacation through a program called Cottage Dreams; a program that provides donated cottage-stays to families who have been "touched" by cancer.
I think I would have used terminology like "ravaged" or "rearranged" by cancer, but I know what they meant.

Cottage Dreams hopes to provide a place for "rejuvenation" and "reconnection" in the aftermath of cancer diagnosis, treatments, surgeries, radiation, needles, rearrangements and appointments.
It's like a wondrous reward all packaged up with four walls, a fireplace and lake frontage.

A beautiful, fellow breast-cancer survivor told me all about this program one evening.

"Our family went to this AMAZING cottage through Cottage Dreams!" she enthused one night.  We had met at a local Tim Horton's and were nursing our coffees over several hours, "Ours was huge!  Like, bigger than our house.  And so beautiful!  We had a wonderful time just being together that week."

"Wow!  Seriously!?" I had responded incredulously, "that sounds amazing."  Like, maybe the first super-amazing thing I had heard in a long time.
I had been getting used to hearing bad news.

"So, you need to have needles for 8 consecutive days following your chemo infusions.  They will occur from day three to day ten...."
Hurrah.

"These needles we are going to give you will help with your white blood cell count....but they may cause bad bone pain."
Wonderful.

".....oh...and your teeth will get yellow....and soften, so watch for extra cavities."
Great.

"....and chemo often causes something called 'chemo brain'; so if you notice that you lose your train of thought suddenly or forget words, that's 'chemo brain'..."
Yippee.

So, when my friend told me about the Cottage Dreams program, I was uber excited.  This was something my family could look forward to when all my treatments were done.

I did some investigating and got right to work getting registered.
Fill in forms?  Done!
Get 'em signed by the family doctor?  Completed!
Send said filled-in and signed forms away by mail?  Check and check!
And then we played a few weeks of The Waiting Game.

This game is NOT very fun.
The rules are simple.  You sit.  And wait.  Winning occurs when the waiting period is over.  I DID tell you it was not very fun.  You should not play this game when you invite your friends over for a night of comradery, companionship and cookies.  Unless you would like your friends to no longer be your friends.
Then you should play The Waiting Game all night.  With raw beef.

So, Paul, the kids and I all engaged in a riotous round of The Waiting Game and, one day, we received an email from Cottage Dreams.

"Congratulations!" the email proudly proclaimed, "Your family is eligible for a cottage in the  Cottage Dreams cancer recovery program.  Please let us know when you are available to go on holidays.  Also, let us know what region you are most interested in visiting........the Kawarthas, Muskoka, Haliburton Highlands, Bruce Peninsula, the Thousand Islands area, Barrie, Tobermory, Quebec...."

My family was so excited.
We reread the list of cottage locations and then checked them out on Google Maps.
We were giddy and giggled together over the possibilities.
We were like a bunch of kids in a candy shop.  Rich kids with extensive sweet tooths surrounded by aisles and aisles of sugary goodness!
We knew that any cottage stay would be fantastically super, but a cottage in Quebec had us all intrigued.

"Let's go to Quebec," one of our kids shouted because our children do not have Indoor Voices.

"Oui Oui.  Nous allons à Québec!" I intoned lyrically.  I was trying my French on for size and it was feeling good.

We made our choice and soon received further updates from Cottage Dreams.  They had a cottage for us and we could click on the link provided to check it out.
We clicked.
We checked it out.
We tried not to faint with excitement.

Not only was the cottage gorgeous and filled with every amenity known to mankind, but it was located on Lac Forget.

For reals, y'all!
Lac Forget.

Our family was going to cottage near the magical waters of memory loss.
A place where the memories of a year of pain, illness and crazy could be forgotten or, at the very least,  set aside for a time.  A time where we could be together and heal emotionally.
Spiritually.
Physically.

And what a vacation it was!
Most of the time, we had all of Lac Forget to ourselves.
We were surrounded by the soothing sounds of lapping lake and wind-rustled trees.
Paul and I spent a lot of time crayon-colouring and conversing with our kids.  At night, we gathered around the glowing embers of a campfire or lounged on soft red couches and read.  Candles flickered and dispelled the deepening darkness.
We fished for hours off the back dock.  Well, the kids fished for hours off the dock.  Paul and I spent copious amounts of time sliding wiggly worms ONTO hooks and then removing wiggly fishies OFF those same hooks several minutes later.
We took a panoramic gondola ride to the top of Mount Tremblant and then hiked.
We kayaked and tried out paddle-boarding for the first time ever.
We reconnected.

Tonight, I wish I could provide a cottage stay for anyone out there who feels stuffed-to-the-gills with suffering and sorrows.
I wish you could all experience the laying down of burdens on the shores of Lac Forget like we did.
But I cannot.
I am so sorry.

What I can do is share my story and encourage you.  So I will try.

For starters, let me tell you that despite hanging out at Lac Forget for five whole days with my family, I have no intention of forgetting.
I plan to remember our hill-top hiking, fishing frenzies and countless hours of colouring.  I plan to remember illness, baldness and surgeries.

Je me souviens.
I remember.

Because alongside those icky-bicky cancer memories are the memories of kindness, compassion and love shared.  While we were suffering, God surrounded us with people who prayed and encouraged and gave what they could to help out.
God sent family, friends and neighbours.
God sent our church-family and fellow homeschool mommies.
God sent out perfect strangers who didn't know us but who donated their cottage anyways so that we could have a place to heal.
Je me souviens.
I remember.

Thank-you from the bottom of our hearts.

Merci beaucoup.


I would like to conclude by sharing some song lyrics by Crowder (?) with you.  Wherever you are, be encouraged.

Come out of sadness 

From wherever you've been

Come broken hearted

Let rescue begin

Come find your mercy

Oh sinner come kneel

Earth has no sorrow 

That heaven can't heal

Earth has no sorrow 

That heaven can't heal

So lay down your burdens 

Lay down your shame

All who are broken

Lift up your face

Oh wanderer come home

You're not too far

So lay down your hurt

Lay down your heart

Come as you are

There's hope for the hopeless

And all those who've strayed

Come sit at the table

Come taste the grace

There's rest for the weary

Rest that endures

Earth has no sorrow

That heaven can't cure

Twas An Ordinary Night

It's just another quiet and ordinary night at the VanHuisstede household.

Son #1 can't get to sleep and gets up at regular intervals to ensure that we are tracking his non-sleep progress along with him.

Son # 2 had a tummy ache and also wonders if I have a night light somewhere that he can hang on his bed.  One that isn't too bright or too dim.  While we are chatting anyway, he ponders when he can buy a new fishing rod because he really wants to catch a marlin when we go to the cottage next summer.   Because apparently there are marlins swimming in the lakes of Ontario.

Daughter is fast asleep and having a hilarious dream because she is laughing her head off while she sleeps.

Son # 3 was sleep-walking until he banged into the vacuum cleaner that was laying in the middle of the hallway.  Then he fell over, peed his pants and woke up.

Yep, just another ordinary night at my house.

And I think to myself, what Wonderful Words.

Words.  Words.  Words.
Great, gorgeous, glorious, glamorous words.
Is not all of life wrapped up so lovingly with them?

I just LOVE words.  The way they roll around inside my mouth with the ability to inspire laughter, love, tears, rage, jealousy, comfort, grace, hope.

Think of some words that you love so much.
Favourite verses hanging on a wall somewhere inside your house.  Words become decor.  I have some of my favourite verses hanging in my living room; a constant reminder of hope, strength and love depicted in words.

Words made famous in their historical or literary settings......"I have a dream.....", "...frankly my dear, I don't give a ....", "If you prick us, do we not bleed....", "One small step for man, one giant step for mankind...", "A rose by any other name..."
Word become song.  "We don't need no education...", "Figaro, figaro, figaro....", "Praise God from whom all blessings flow....", "'Like a bridge over troubled waters....", "Cuz nothing compares to you....."  Are you singing along?  I am, baby.  I am.  I'm a thinkin' I fell hard for a Wordsmith who went all out and put his Words to Music.  Mmm mm.  What a man!

Words that twist and grow and mature with time and technological changes.  Googling and hashtagging being some of these newbie words that come to mind.

Words that situate you in time.  Like when "groovy" was no longer "cool" and "sick" began to mean something good that was groovy or cool depending on what decade you were born in.  Today's vocabulary norm will be yesterday's marker of time.

Words that reveal your geography.  Like when you go to throw something away and maybe you throw the debris into the "bin" and everyone laughs at you because obviously you meant the "garbage can".  Or when you went to the "cinema to catch a flick"  when you most certainly meant "going to the theatre to watch a movie."  Pffft.  Next you will be wearing your wellies and trousers and pushing babies around in prams.

Words placing you in culture or sub-culture.  You might want to spend some valuable time with your friends and before you know it, you are "hangin' in the hood with your peeps."  I'm down with the gangsta lingo because I am certain that a white, middle-aged homeschooling mother is pretty close to being Gangsta.  Pretty sure, yo!

Aren't words so lovely?  And luscious.  Like you just want to eat them all up but that would be weird because chewing on books isn't really condoned or cool no matter where or when you live.

Sometimes I wonder if I homeschool so that I can be present time and again for that transformational and magical time when "A" becomes more than just a symbol etched in ink on paper and, instead, a key to unlocking the power to the universe.
"This is an 'A', my sweet little Monkey-Head.  It stands for "adorable", "awesome" and "amazing".  Today, the letter 'A'; tomorrow we take on the world!"

Bollocks, you say?

John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  Beautiful!  I once heard a sermon where the Pastor talked about how God reveals himself through Words and that was a riveting moment for me on so many levels.  Great, glorious God revealed through literary means.  Now, that is REALLY speaking my language.  Our almighty, powerful, gracious, loving God wanted to reveal himself to his people.  So He did so.....using words.

Wrapped up.  Revealed.  Recognized.

By our words we shall be known.

Something to think about.
Or ponder.
Or ruminate over.
Whatev, dudes.  This blog be done.
#overandout
Cuz it ain't over till it's over.
'yo!

-Brigette