Hanging Out in Toronto

We were given a free night in Toronto, & it was a great chance to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in  a long time.  Janene & I used to get together at least once a week when we lived in Ontario, despite living an hour apart.  We were both PWives, our husbands were both doing 1 year internships, & our boys were only a few months apart.  It’s hard to believe we last saw each other 6 years ago, but it was like no time had passed at all!

I knew a few of the other girls from our time at seminary, and they all get to live around each other in Ontario.  Now, I love PEI, but it sure would be nice if there was another CRC church here so one of them could come live close by!

We had a great evening of shopping, & dinner, & conversation.  And we laughed a LOT!

I had a great time with great friends, & hopefully we can all make it to the next conference in 2 years!

Latte Night

A few times a month, I host Latte Nights, where women can get together, enjoy a latte (or 2)…

& get to know each other better.  A few hours before everyone shows up, I always start to wonder why did I schedule this for TONIGHT?

But once the first person has arrived, and the lattes start flowing, & the girls start opening up & getting chatty, I remember why.

 

It’s a good way to foster & grow friendships.

I LOVE latte nights, & I love all the girls who come.

  Thanks for coming, Ladies (even if it is just for the lattes), I appreciate it!

Social Networking

I went to a ladies' brunch last week.  I was telling my mom about it before I went & she was very excited for me.  She said, "I used to go to that group & it's where I met lots of women my age!"

Well, Mom, I met lots of women your age there as well!  I was the youngest in the room by about 20 years, not that that bothers me.  I have just as much fun in a room full of ladies my age, as a room full of women my mother's age.

When I had initially called to get information about it, I asked of there were many younger women who went.  The coordinator replied, "We'd like to have more!"  That was my first indication that I might not be joining a group of my peers.

At one point, one of the women at my table asked what brought me to the island (as I had been introduced as the girl who moved from Calgary), I told them that my husband is a pastor & that he was called to a church here.

She said, "Oh, you don't look old enough to be married!"

"Well," I replied, "I've been married for 10 years, I'm 30."

"My goodness, you don't look a day over 19!"  She exclaimed.

And it might just be that the age gap made me look younger than my age, but I'll still take that compliment.

After talking to the ladies at my table, I discovered that they all have grandchildren the same age as my children.  Despite the fact that I didn't know anyone there, and I HATE going to places that I've never been before, especially by myself, it was a fun morning out, and I'm looking forward to joining them again next month!  After all, they are desiring more younger women to join them, and if I contribute nothing else, I fit that bill.

May I Help You?

Last Sunday PChad said something in his sermon along the lines of, "it's really hard to accept help." It really struck me then, & in the past few days I've been thinking about it more & more.

When people offer us help, out gut reaction is to say, "Oh no, I'm fine!" even if we are not. Kind of like when we are asked how we are doing, we automatically say "Good!" The funny thing is though that if we say we don't need help & then the offering party takes our answer at face value, we get all offended & declare, "No one even CARES that I might need help!" We suddenly seem to forget that we WERE offered assistance & turned it down saying that we were managing fine on our own.

Sometimes there are people who insist on helping despite our protests, but I wonder why we aren't more honest in the first place. Sure, sometimes people ask to be polite & they don't really want to take action, but just think of what might happen if we were more willing to accept offers of help!

If we started to answer honestly that we could really use a meal, or someone to watch the kids, or a ride somewhere, or just a visit, wouldn't that bond us together more? And if, when we offered to help someone, if they accepted graciously, wouldn't that make us feel helpful, useful, wanted as well? All these fellowship opportunities are being wasted, & we can't figure out why we don't know the people in our communities anymore.

It's high time we stopped being so insular & start reaching out to help & to be helped.

A Housework Analogy

A few weeks ago at Coffee Break we were talking about how our relationship with Christ is something that we have to maintain & work at. It's a bit different from our relationship with our spouse b/c our spouse is physically present to remind us if we haven't spent enough time together & the effects of it can be a bit more obvious.

It got me thinking that living in relationship w/ Christ is a bit like cleaning house. It's not something that you can do once (accept Him into your life) & figure it's good. Rather it's something we have to keep working at. We have to keep asking Him to renew us & consciously keep Him as the number one priority in our lives.

Image what it would be like if you went on one date w/ a guy, then he asked you to marry him, you said, yes, but never saw him again. It wouldn't be much of a relationship, would it?

Personalities

Have you ever met someone & decided that you liked them right away b/c they remind you of someone else that you like? Have you ever accidentally called that person by the other one's name b/c in your mind they are almost one & the same? I was thinking about that today since we have moved to a new place, all the people I meet are new & yet some seem to be more familiar to me. I was trying to figure out why & I discovered that some of them look like people I knew elsewhere & some act like people I knew before.

Then I thought about the flip-side. What if I meet someone new & decide I DON'T like them b/c they remind me of someone I wasn't crazy about? That could be dangerous. I realized that I need to be aware of something like that happening & make sure that I don't do the transference of feelings from one person to the next b/c even though people may look similar or act similarly, they are all individuals.

In one of the offices where I worked there was a girl who I did NOT like from day 1. We sat quite close to eachother & often had to help w/ the other person's job if they got too busy. I tried to ignore her as much as possible b/c she was really starting to grate on my nerves. After a few months I realized that she was a really hard worker & always tried to help others whenever she could. I decided that maybe she wasn't so bad afterall & discovered over time that, in fact, I really enjoyed working w/ her! She was quite funny, & I actually looked forward to the time when she would start her shift.

About 2 months after that she took another job & I have never heard from her since. I'm still regretting that b/c of my crummy attitude I missed MONTHS of what could have been a close friendship. I have been conscious ever since to give people a chance & not judge if I like them or not in the first few meetings. I think it's an important thing for us all to do. And now I'll get off my soapbox.

*Thanks to everyone who have left comments! It's been great to see some of the people who've been reading.