Frustration

I took the bus to Saskatoon Friday after work. My van was there (sort of) and I needed to get the plates changed to Saskatchewan plates. My cousin had been working on it for me, doing the myriad of little things that needed to be done so that it would pass a safety inspection. Then my brother-in-law drove it up to PA to a friend of his to do the safety inspection. It passed once two new tires were bought and the wheels aligned. Then he drove it back to S'toon (which is why I said sort of) early Saturday morning.

Saturday morning I went to the closest insurance office to change my driver's license over to a Saskatchewan one and to get Saskatchewan plates on my van. Apparently you can only get Saskatchewan plates if you have a current Sask driver's license, so that was the first step. Except - I can't get a Sask driver's license without showing either a passport or a birth certificate in addition to a driver's license from another jurisdiction and two proofs of a current Sask address. I didn't have all that in Saskatoon, so I phoned down to Regina and asked them to put all that in an envelope on the bus. It arrived at 4:10 pm, so then I went back to an insurance office. I had to show... passport, birth certificate, two proofs of residence (power bill and phone bill) and marriage certificate! The latter was because I was previously registered in Saskatchewan (20 years ago) under a different last name and I had to prove that I had legally changed my name! Then they had to electronically contact the NWT licensing office to prove that my license hadn't been suspended there. That's where the hitch was. Couldn't do that! Therefore unless I could show a driver's abstract, (which I actually had in Regina) they couldn't give me my new Saskatchewan driver's license so I couldn't put plates on the van.

Now, my plates expire tonight, so I guess I have to get someone to drive me to an insurance office tomorrow to go through the whole rigamarole again. Am I frustrated? Just a little bit.

Hope

My sister Ruth gave me the link to this film. I've started a new unit in my Grade 9 English class entitled "It's not fair! The search for justice" We've been looking at historical and current injustices (for example, we looked at the Japanese relocation and internment during WWII yesterday and today). Now that I've seen this film, I definitely will show it - either tomorrow or Monday. Check it out for yourself, it's really impressive: http://www.thedoorpost.com/hope/Volition/

New Traditions

Tonight is my anniversary. I decided that I needed to be proactive and prevent myself from sitting at home alone feeling sorry for myself. So I invited family over. (You have to realize that that's not a very limiting term). I think I fed around 20 and there were another 10 or so that dropped in for awhile. Everyone helped me put up a Christmas tree (I've never had one since I lived at home with my parents) and decorate it. It's beautiful! I'd post a picture but I don't have a camera, so you'll have to take my word for it. It's been a very nice evening and I'm tired - it was a very full day.

Oops

I had my Oster Kitchen Centre out on the counter top because I was using the blender. However, I turned suddenly and caught it with my elbow sending both mixing bowls crashing to the floor. They both shattered. I wonder how possible it is to get replacement mixing bowls? (The original Kitchen Centre only cost me $10 at a garage sale. What do you want to bet replacing the bowls will cost me a fair bit more than that?)

Shopping locally

I left my apartment at 5:40 to walk to the local Extra Foods - a generous block away. I purchased my groceries and walked home, arriving just in time to hear the news chimes on CBC radio for 6 pm. Gotta love it. Got all of my groceries and walked both ways in 20 minutes!

Here comes the sun

I've been feeling for the past several weeks that I was persevering while operating under a cloud. I would do everything that needed to be done, but always felt the feeling in the back of my throat that's the precursor to tears. However, last night the cloud lifted! I haven't done anything differently, but after weeks of feeling that I've been playing a melody written in a minor key, with lots of unresolved chords; I've moved on to the next movement, and it's resolved to a major key! I'm grateful for the return of the sunshine in my life.

Is it finally winter?

It's -19C out this morning. There's snow on the ground. Maybe it's finally winter. I know this has been an unseasonably mild fall; but I can't get over how warm it has been. I've been trying not to fit the phrase "in Yellowknife...." into every conversation, but I still think it. And they've had snow in Yellowknife since early October and it'll be there until the end of April.

So, now that the temperature is more seasonable, does it affect what I wear? Not really. I'm wearing a sweater instead of a blouse, but I'm still wearing a skirt instead of pants. (I like wearing skirts and it's only half a block to get to work). I'll be wearing the same coat (my fall jacket in YK) because it's good to -20 or so, and my next warmer coat is a fur one; I think it's a bit of an overkill to switch to it. I'll still be wearing shoes because I don't have any boots (although I get paid next week, so I might try to find some).

Home once more

Well, I'm back; have driven to Winkler, Manitoba (about 7 hours away); participated in the Bible Quizzing competition there (as a coach) and driven back home. Four of our students came with me. What's Bible Quizzing, you ask? It's a really great program - check out their FAQ here: http://www.cmdquizzing.org/info/faq.html If you want the Reader's Digest Condensed Version:

"The mission of quizzing is to see visible evidence of the application of God's Word in the lifestyle of each participant."
Bible Quizzing is a ministry of Life Impact Ministries/CMA to assist teens to connect with God in a deeper way by Experiencing Him and Expanding His Kingdom.
It accomplishes this by:
Providing teens with an opportunity to be involved in the systematic study and application of God's Word.
Building character, instilling self-discipline, and encouraging prayer and unity.
Equipping young people with the capacity to serve in other areas of ministry.

Our students did really well. They won the first three matches they were in, and then, while they did know the answers after that, they weren't the first so didn't win the next three matches. They had a lot of fun (which is also very important) and they know an awful lot about the Book of Luke.

It was interesting being in Winkler. It's obviously a very strongly Mennonite community; there were at least three massive Mennonite churches that we passed by. Winkler has a population of about 9,000. There was at least one quiz group that visited amongst themselves in German, and this morning in the worship service, the hymns were all in English and German on the PowerPoint slides. The girls and I stayed with a family that had just immigrated to Winkler from Germany and spoke some English but were fluent in both German and Russian. The boys also stayed with a German speaking family.

Reading and growing

I've been reading (again) My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. I find him really challenging. I've also been reading II Corinthians, which I have found really encouraging. For example: I Cor. 1:3-7

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

Finally, I've been doing quite a bit of reading and studying in Luke, chapters 1-3 and 9-11, because that's where our Bible Quizzing will be on. I'm getting to know it really well (but not as well as my students) and hope to have much more memorized after a seven hour car ride with them.

Newsworthy

It has always seemed amazing to me that something that can be totally earthshattering to me, doesn't make the news. Perhaps that's a good thing; I'm just as happy without having to read about myself in the tabloids (Britney and Paris are welcome to that type of publicity) and it does help me to realize that I'm not the centre of the universe. The really big, important news (like: Joyce and Tony had a girl today - Gloria Jade - mama and baby are both doing fine) seems to be transmitted at high speed.

What's new around here? We had freezing rain this morning, and it's slippery enough that I had to be careful walking to work and I decided not to drive anywhere today. The weather is still incredibly mild, it's only -4 right now. (Yeah, I know, the 20 years in Yellowknife is showing here - but it's only -7 there!) The students had no school today, but the staff had an inservice day. We all have tomorrow off though, for Remembrance Day.

Lord willing, I'll be taking a vanload of students to Winkler, Manitoba on Friday for a Bible Quiz meet. It'll be the first time I've left Regina since I arrived on August 9. (After putting about 9,000 km on the van this summer, I just had no desire to drive anywhere; go figure.)

All in all; the Lord continues to bless, and life is good.

Wakefulness

There's many times when I wake in the night (actually it's usually in the small hours of the early morning) and don't go back to sleep for some time if at all. My mother tells me that it's something that goes with the aging process, and she swears that a spoonful of peanut butter helps her to go back to sleep. However, I don't generally mind it. I find there's generally three reasons why I wake in the night.

1. My Lord wakes me. He does this sometimes I think because I haven't been consistent enough in my walk and talk with him and he knows when he can get my attention. Other times he wakes me so that I can pray for others that he puts on my heart. How can I object to this special time with my Lord?
2. Someone or something else wakes me. I live in an apartment where people do come and go in the night, and on occasion it wakes me. Or, sometimes there's a noise on the street, a siren or something that wakes me. Fairly frequently on weekends I have house guests and I can wake when they go to the bathroom or something. This doesn't particularly bother me either; it's something I have no control over, so I treat it like I do with the first reason. This is a time to converse with my Lord and pray for the people that he puts on my heart.
3. Sometimes I wake myself. This usually (but not always) means that I need to go to the bathroom. It could also be that I have had a bad dream or a nightmare or even a really good dream that I want to remember, so I wake up. How can I get upset at myself for waking up if I need to go to the bathroom? I was a bedwetter for a long time as a child, and I assure you that it's far better to wake up when you need to go than not to. I'm also thankful to be able to wake up after a bad dream. Then I can turn that over to my Father and be comforted by him.

I find if I am awake in the night, it's usually for just one or maybe two nights in a row. If I'm shorted of sleep, I can always have a short afternoon nap or sleep in a bit in the morning. I slept in until 7:30 this morning, because I was awake for awhile in the night. It feels so decadent to sleep in, and yet I still have an hour before I need to get ready for church. All in all, it's not really so bad to wake up in the night occasionally. I can be thankful for wakefulness.

Congratulations!

I was privileged to attend a banquet last night - The Fourteenth Annual 2008 First Nations Awards. My youngest sister, Glenda, had been nominated in the Medicine and Health Category. We had a lovely meal (we should have; the banquet ticket prices were incredible!), a great visit, enjoyed the entertainment very much (there was a special performance by Shane Yellowbird) and to top it all off, Glenda won!

I'm so proud of her! She's a dentist in Saskatoon, and is currently trying to set up a practice at her home band; the Flying Dust First Nation, near Meadow Lake. Glenda had been nominated last year as well, and didn't win then; however, she's grateful because last year the winners had to make speeches and this year they just had to walk across stage to accept their award. She was given a beautiful eagle statue.

I don't have a camera, but Glenda had her phone with her and took some pictures, so when she e-mails me some, I'll add them to the blog.