listening

i'm a story teller

and by story teller I don't mean "liar, embellisher, etc.." (although, who hasn't embellished a story once and a while...)

i love making people laugh

i love telling stories with dramatic pauses and voices

i have a good memory for the details

i like to tell the story in it's full completion

i think this likely started because I have always wanted to be funny

and quite frankly, i know that I'm not always funny!

growing up, my brother was the funny one

he always had a good joke or story

and i think he was my inspiration

this last year, a friend of mine told me that she thought I was the best story teller ever

i was flattered, and surprised quite honestly

i know that i LOVE telling the stories

but it was cool to hear someone say that they look forward to hearing them

so, not to be proud or arrogant

but rather.. acknowledge something i'm good at...

i am a good story teller

which brings me to the real thought behind my post...

i believe that part of being a good story teller is also being a good listener

none wants to hear someone else talk constantly

so you listen, interact, be in CONVERSATION and then the stories can come out when appropriate

and, in the last month, i have encountered 2 instances of terrible listening

one happened this morning

i was in conversation with someone, and he was telling me something. what he said reminded me of a similar story, so i go into it, telling him all the details. and he looks like he's listening. a few minutes later he looks at me and says "ya.. i didn't listen to a word you just said, i'm wrapped up in a thought, so I missed that whole thing"

it caught me a bit off guard! but i just kinda laughed

then, i thought he'd ask to hear the rest but instead

he turned and walked out

it was a bizarre moment

the other one was a similar instance, but they asked me to repeat it later on

listening.. i would say that is a more important skill than story telling

am i a good listener?? doesn't hurt to pay attention to my listening skills once & a while

(right now my listening skills are being challenged.. michael has been watching a lot of the military channel lately.. and there is only so much talk about war and weapons until i am totally zoned out...)

speaking of zoning out.. it's almost time for tonights episode of big brother. (one of...) my summer guilty pleasures. i may even watch it while eating a piece of sea salt dark chocolate. terribly tasty.

waves, rainbows and Dads

last weekend at the cabin i had a wonderful time of relaxation, rest and fun
i did a lot of reading and chatting
house planning and thinking

and in between, we went for a few boat rides
my parent's friends were out, and we asked them if they had been to devil's island before
it's this little island a short boat ride from where we normally boat around
it is an awfully sad looking place
it has been overtaken by birds
the island is covered in birds and bird poop
the trees have no leaves
and it looks totally forgotten

it was fairly windy that day
and as we started driving out there the waves were getting choppy
it was fairly noisy due to the wind, the boat motor and the waves
so i sat at the back of the boat, looking over the water and lost in thought
i started to pray for people as they came to my mind
praying for a dear friend of mine who is struggling with a church transition
and the hurt & miscommunication that can come from such a change
i was thinking about our own journey and how good it feels to feel like we've found a new place to settle into - although, over the summer, we don't attend much anywhere.. so it'll feel different once we are there in the fall.

at this point, we reached devil's island and took it all in
we couldn't get as close as we would've liked because the waves were a little too wild
and i have been out there once (with my uncle) when it really started storming, and it wasn't fun! so my dad turned the boat around

as we went through the waves, we were all getting wet
the water was splashing up high against the boat and i started thinking to myself how i likely should be afraid, but i wasn't, because my dad was driving
i trust my dad 150%!
he is wise, and cautious. he has experience and puts everyones needs ahead of his own.
he has shown me over my 26 years why i would be silly not to trust him
at this point, i looked down at the side of the boat and there was the most vivid and bright rainbow in the water, from the way it was spraying, right where i was sitting, there was a perfect rainbow.
i looked around the boat and i couldn't see it anywhere else, just beside me
and i got this shiver, a God moment, or a "kiss" as my mom calls it

it was like i realized all over again the idea of God as father
i have been so blessed to have a dad that has made it so clear for me to understand the love of God as FATHER.
this rainbow to me felt like God saying to me, 'just like you trust your dad in a situation like this, with the waves crashing.. that is how you can trust me in everything!" church transition, grief, stress, storms, every day situations.. anything.

it was a very cool moment for me, and before i knew it, we were back on shore.
i have a great Dad, and a great Father God :)

this is one of my favourite pictures from my wedding day - i had just come back from the hair dresser. i stood with my dad looking over the back yard. we said nothing, but it said everything!

tolerance

i am incredibly tired today
my eyes are puffy and i'm being kept awake thru the help of caffine
(thanks to my wonderful friend shauna who stopped by for a visit with coffee in hand!)
why am i so tired??

easy answer - i stayed up until 1:30 am reading!!
i've been reading a book called "the help" by Kathryn Stockett
and I am just wrapped up in it
i started reading last night around 11, and planned to only read for about 30 minutes. when i finally put the book down cause i couldn't keep my eyes open, i realized it was 1:30. ah the power of a good book

i am fascinated with this book for many reasons
but the main one being that i am just wrapped up in the idea of racism, the idea of tolerance and kindness.
(a quick one liner summary of the book: it's a story -fiction- based in the 1960's where racism is very much alive, black people work as slaves and maids, and one white woman decides that she wants to write a book from the view of 'the help', talking all about what it's like to be a black woman in Mississippi - and the lack of tolerance against integration and equality)
as i'm reading this book (fiction based on the reality of the 60's) i find myself just sick to the stomach over how people are treated. how white people built separate bathrooms so they wouldn't catch "black diseases". how black people couldn't attend the same schools, couldn't have the same doctors, couldn't eat at the same table! i found myself SO thankful for how different the world is today, until i really thought about it

is the world really that different?? or have we moved onto the next thing to be intolerant to?
for the most part, "black" people are treated with more equality. they are termed for ethnicity, not color. they are allowed to be as integrated as possible. but i'm not naiive. i'm very aware that there are still many racists alive and kicking. but i do think we are miles ahead of the 60's in that area.

however, i have been thinking a lot about the modern day "racisms" - stereotypes attached to cultures and race. lack of patience for accents and those we can't understand on the phone due to their lack of english. impatient when you're waiting for your fast food, and the cashier is struggling with her english. or how about sexism - some jobs that are still thought of as only male jobs or only female jobs. people who believe women don't have any place in church leadership. what about ageism - senior abuse and intolerance. bullying and talking down to seniors when their minds start to fade.

but the biggest one that i've been thinking of is intolerance of sexual orientation. homosexuality. using the term "homo" or "gay" to mean something stupid or lame. loving ones neighbour in christian love until you find out that he's attracted to men. zero patience for getting to know them because they feel like they were born different. words of disgust and sickness when hearing of someone's choices. it literally makes me feel like we aren't further ahead, we are just sticking our heads further into the sand!

i think the issue of tolerance and homosexuality is a close one to my heart because i have a couple of friends who are gay (some openly and others not as much). i remember finding out about their sexual orientation, and i remember the responses from others. i remember a dear christian girl friend of mine pressing a sheet of paper into my palm to give to my friend. on it, she had listed a number of scriptures that i should read to him all about how homosexuality is a sin. i was shocked. no where on the paper did she have listed any verses about christ's love. community. encouragement. nope, just a nice list of reasons to feel sinful. i remember ripping up the sheet when i got home. is that really showing Christ?? Is it my job to list someone else's sins? (maybe some of you think so, but I don't) I really think it's my job to be a listening ear. To continue to speak of Christ's love into my friends lives. To continue loving that person for everything they are, not just one thing!

I remember the fear in my friends eyes when he told me he was gay. I remember how nervous he was, how his voice was shaky and how he just waited and watched me as I took in his words. I remember hugging him, and thanking him for telling me (especially since I had a crush on him not that long before this!). I remember telling him that i loved him the same way, the same amount, and that nothing about our friendship would change. and I remember, more than anything, what he said to me after "I told you, because I knew that's what your response would be" It doesn't matter if I think his decision is right or wrong, that is between him and God. What matters is being tolerant. Loving the person for who they are! not the color of their skin, their ethnic background, their accent, their sexual orientation.

I apologize if this is sounding preachy. my blog isn't a place to be preachy, or judgemental or to aim opinions at anyone. These are just thoughts about the world & society and myself that have been floating around like a whirlwind in my head while reading this book, and I felt like sharing it. I am learning.

I want to be tolerant, to be loving, to be accepting. If I wish for other people to love me for me, all of me, then I can do nothing but the same for others. This book has just been affirming that to me. and I think it is a beautiful story. This excerpt, from page 234, is one of my most favorite parts. If you're looking for an excellent read, pick up this book (I bought it for $7, free shipping from here)


*background - Mae Mobley is a 3 year old white girl, Aibee (Aibileen) is her black maid. myrlie evers who is mentioned in this excerpt, has just had her husband shot & killed by the kkk*


"I don't feel good. My froat hurts, Aibee."
I know what a froat is and I know how to fix it. Baby Girl getting a summer cold. I heat her up a cup a honey water, little lemon in it to make it good. But what this girl really needs is a story so she can go to sleep. I lift her up in my arms. Law, she getting big. Gone be three years old in a few months, and pudgy as a punkin.
Ever afternoon, me and Baby Girl set in the rocking chair before her nap. Ever afternoon, I tell her: 'You kind, you smart, you important' But she growing up and I know, soon, them few words ain't gone be enough.
"Aibee? Read me a story?"
I look through the books to see what I'm on read to her. I can't read that Curious George one more time cause she don't want to hear it. Or Chicken Little or Madeline neither.
So we just rock in the chair awhile. Mae Mobley lean her head against my uniform. We watch the rain dripping on the water left in the green plastic pool. I say a prayer for Myrlie Evers, wishing I'd had work off to go to the funeral. I think on how her ten-year-old son, somebody told me, had cried so quiet through the whole thing. I rock and pray, feeling so sad, I don't know, something just come over me. The words just come out.
"Once upon a time they was two little girls," I say. "One girl had black skin, one girl had white."
Mae Mobley look up at me. She listening.
"Little colored girl say to the little white girl, 'How come your skin be so pale?' White girl say, 'I don't know. How come your skin be so black? What you think that mean?'
"But neither one a them little girls knew. So little white girl say, 'Well, let's see. You got hair, I got hair.'" I gives Mae Mobley a little tousle on her head.
"Little colored girl say, 'I got a nose, you got a nose.'" I gives her little snout a tweak. She got to reach up and do the same to me.
"Little white girl say, 'I got toes, you got toes.' And I do the little thing with her toes, but she can't get to mine cause I got my white work shoes on.
"So we's the same. Just a different color,' say that little colored girl. The little white girl she agreed and they was friends. The End."
Baby Girl just look at me. Law, that was a sorry story if I ever heard one. Wasn't even no plot to it. But Mae Mobley, she smile and say, "Tell it again."
So I do. By the fourth time, she's asleep.

welcome to the klassen-thiessen's :)

here it is! the land!! (both ours & josh and leah's) - the land goes past the trees, there are railroad tracks right behind those trees, and then this beautiful wheat field

 planning - the driveway is starting to go down tomorrow!

 another view of the land. josh & leah's house will be where the light green trees are on the right. ours will be on the left of the picture and closer to the front.

 land owners! it's pretty surreal.

 a view from the tree line - just before the railroad tracks, henderson highway is at the back of the picture. 

our wheat field :) hello country living!

sisters & neighbours. THE BEST!

 the field behind the trees. gorgeous.

 the sweetest boy with this look "really auntie? more pictures???"

ev captures an audience wherever he goes. this is his play structure on the new land!

 ev was determined to snap this plant, but no matter how he bent it, it always came back. also i love his expression in this one.

and i thought this one was just precious. i'm going to LOVE living next door to this sweet little monkey!

i cannot wait!

auntie

everett said auntie today

and it was the sweetest thing i've ever heard

where i'm from

i am from swing sets, from craft making and dirt roads.

I am from a house with a porch, a yard of barn fires, high ceilings, cows & a dog named Oreo.

I am from the wheat fields, the blue skies and the forest paths.

I am from boat rides and blue eyes, from Alvin Gerhard and Thomas clans and Dolly.

I am from beloved stubbornness and grace.

From "i love you 5" and constant laughter.

I am from Jesus lovers and worship singers.

I am from Mennonites, Metis, Roll Kuchen and fleish perisky.

From the bear by the beehives, the sadie hawkins dance, the days of faith bible camp, the high school sweethearts and the motorcycle riders.

I am from family meals, choir practices and love.

From the smell of fire, the garland at christmas, the coffee perking & sawdust.

A girl can hardly ask for more.

I stole this idea from my friend Krista who got the template from here.

dream it

do you ever find that you dream up something and then think...

"nope, won't happen"

or

"nice thought... I wish.. but, it wouldn't work.."

not that long ago I was having coffee with my sister & our friend

and we were talking about how cool it would be if we, as sisters, could be neighbours one day

see, josh & leah own a piece of land on henderson hwy

and the land beside it was vacant...

we said it would be so wonderful

our kids could wait for the school bus together

we could raise our kids together

build a giant play structure in the back yard

have porches that face one anothers houses

(although i'd probably have to close the blinds if i chose to walk around naked.. wouldn't want to scar my brother!)

wouldn't that be so nice?

my parents raised us in anola

in the beautiful country

a lot of our lives happened in the city, but we made it work

i became a master of changing into my choir uniform in the car

i helped out at my mom's work while i waited to go home

we spent many hours in the car, chatting, listening to worship music

or to "dr laura schlessinger"

we made it worth while to live out in the country

playing on haybales, helping with the cows or the chickens

but one of my most favorite things about anola

was that we lived side by side with auntie maryann & uncle nelson

we had many sleepovers there

saturday dinners, where auntie made her famous lemon meringue pie

often on christmas day we would open presents at one house

and eat at the other

they were second parents to us

and i LOVED it

how wonderful would it be to have that experience with josh & leah?

and for our kids to grow up so close together (i realize i have no kids, and none on the way, but eventually!)

anyway, we talked, and we dreamed but we figured (or at least I figured)

"its too good to be true"

however, my brother, being the determined & skillful guy that he is

was willing to do the work to make this happen

phone calls, lawyer visits, trips to the land title office

things started falling into place

i remember a couple of weeks ago josh called me and said

"it just feels like it's right, like it's what God wants to happen for us"

of course! how could i doubt that, or limit God?

he hears all our dreams and thoughts (spoken and unspoken)

and he desires good for us

so, a couple months later since our first mention of this "possibility" and here we are

proud land owners (thanks to the wonderfully generous loan from my parents)

with plans to build a house beside our family

(and only 3 minutes from the retreat house/mom & dad!)

last night we walked the land with josh & leah

and my dad happened to be driving by, and stopped in

our future! our new home

our dreams coming true!!

i want to add one thing to the picture up top

dream it

trust God with it

and do it!

it doesn't surprise me then, that God reaffirmed my thoughts with scripture

the verses that are being used this Sunday at the church that I work at

as I was typing in the scripture I couldn't help but smile

NOTHING is too big or "out there" for God

¹⁰ Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

   Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

 ¹³ Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.” 

genesis 18:10-14