A Lixy Life

As splendidly as I've been doing at not blogging I can't NOT blog on this day because I have to say...

At a certain primary school during their weekly class on morals, a group of first-grade students were asked to finish the story of the hardworking ant and the lazy grasshopper in the way they thought would be best.
Most of us know this story—one of Aesop’s fables—how the Grasshopper wasted the summer months playing his fiddle while the Ant labored hard storing food for the winter. When cold finally came, the industrious Ant and his friends were all safely tucked away with all that they would need, while the Grasshopper was left to search for food and found himself dying of hunger.

The six-year-olds were asked to draw a picture of and rewrite the ending of the story in any way they would like, but it needed to involve the Grasshopper asking the Ant for help. About half of the first-graders took the general view that since the Grasshopper was undeserving, the Ant refused to help him. The other half changed the end to say that the Ant told the Grasshopper to learn his lesson, and then he gave the Grasshopper half of what he had.
Then a little boy stood up and gave this version of the tale: After the Grasshopper came to the Ant and begged for food, the Ant unhesitatingly gave all the food he had. Not half or most, but everything. The boy was not finished, however, and he cheerfully continued: “The Ant didn’t have any food left, so he died. But then the Grasshopper was so sad that the Ant had died that he told everyone what the Ant had done to save his life. And the Grasshopper became a good Grasshopper.”

Two things came to mind when this story was related to me. First it reminded me what giving meant to Jesus. He didn’t go halfway for us, and He didn’t say we were “undeserving,” but He gave His all so that we could learn to be good. It was only through Him totally sacrificing His life that we were able to receive the gift of eternal life. It was just the way the Ant died for the Grasshopper in the six-year-old’s retelling of the classic tale. And for us it should also not end there. In gratitude, we should follow His example and give our all to tell of the wonderful thing He did for us.
Second, I learned what it means to give your all. It is not true giving unless it hurts, but when you do truly give it will be multiplied many times over. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.” But it doesn’t end there. Here is the bittersweet promise that makes it all worthwhile: “But if it die it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24 KJV).

Ever since the world turn white with snow and frost and all that cold wet-ish winter stuff, Dad has truly been like a big kid in his very own winter wonderland. Dad is an authentic Canadian boy and having a real Canadian winter has that part of him alive and kicking—literally!

In our Gi-normous back yard we have a large swampish area in the trees which makes up the outside of our property, and that has all frozen over nice and solid. Dad got out there with his snow blower as soon as it turned to ice to claim it as his very own skating rink. The next day he was gone working and didn’t get back till late at night. I hear him come in the front door shuffle around a bit and then I hear him walk straight back out the back door. I don’t think anything of it. Even when I start hearing some random war hoops coming from the distant darkness I foolishly don’t connect it with Dad until he walks in through the back door red faced and covered with white….”Uh huh!?” You gotta love that about dad, he’s got energy, enthusiasm and craziness that can put most people to shame and what he does he does with all his heart.

Course something he can’t understand is when others don’t always share that same enthusiasm and it breaks his heart. He’s been trying to get me out on the ice from day one but I’m just not an icy person.

Now something you have to understand about dad is, that no matter what, he is usually, occasionally, mostly, always right. And when he thinks you should do something you probably should but you don’t always want to; when he tells you something is good it probably is but you still might not like it. I’ll give an example that has kind of become a family joke. Dad has excellent taste in wine. He can look at a bottle and make those intellectual, deep sounding grunts and appropriate facial expressions and “wine lingo", and he can daintily swirl the wine in the glass and inhale with the perfect snort, telling you just how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ a wine is—My confession…I like “bad” wine (aka cheap wine). So when dad brings wine home he warns me now “You won’t like this wine, I paid a little extra for it” or “You’ll love this wine tonight, I got the cheap stuff”…har har. So you get the picture, it is the same with skating.

Okay so tonight Dad and Mom took us all you can eat Chinese food (our new years family treat)! So so so so good and bad and bad and good in all those wonderful ways. Completely stuffed, we get home groaning about how “we’re so going to have to work this off” with absolutely no intention of doing anything tonight…except for dad who heads straight to the back door again. Oooooh the words we are all dreading “Come on guys, we need to go for a skate!” I'm getting ready to do battle with dad to yet again to defend my right to NOT do the "good" thing but instead I found myself having to argue with my full tummy which told me "Get out there" and I obeyed. I bundled up in a big fat snowsuit jacket which just happens to be dad's (another thing he had to force me to wear a couple weeks back, which from since I have happily adopted into my don't-wanna-freeze-my-butt-off wardrobe) and stuffed my feet into some skates, nearly slid to my death walking through the snow, and stepped out onto the ice---and I Loved IT!

It was beautiful, the night was perfectly black and the stars perfectly white and the moon just made the ice light up like silver. Gliding along the ice, breathing in the crisp night air, the beauty of God's creation and the love of family...it was heaven. Dad was right, it was GOOD and I could see for a moment why he loves it so much out there.

And then my toes froze and I started feeling like a lollipop so I ran back to safety before it was too late and when dad asked me "So NOW are you going to start coming out here more?!" I had to honestly say "No. But it was perfect for tonight and you WERE right. Thanks Dad." He huffed at me and probably is huffing at me now as he reads this, but I don't mind. He's right and I love my right to be different and we are both stubborn and crazy about each other:)

I love you Daddy. I love the life and brilliance you bring to each day and the way you enjoy life to the full and make sure we always have the opportunity to do the same--even if we don't always take it--and we love you for it. I don't know where we'd be without you. We wouldn't want to be anywhere without you!!

A Lixy life wouldn’t be a life at all without all the lives that fill it that make it a life worth living. As you might have already noticed I’m not so good at writing about myself nor am I all that interesting—but I do have a interesting life and a good one because I have so many incredibly good people in it. So rather then trying to make myself interesting, which I’m already doomed to fail miserably at, I’m going to share with you the people that fill my life with love and happiness and hope and smiles and laughter (heheh Laura gets leading points in that department).

It's a New Year! It's a Happy Year. It's 2010 and it's going to be grand.

Now I don't know what this year is going to bring me--like really really no clue at all, one single bit, no idea kind of don't know.

I never thought I'd be starting a new year in a new country, yet here I am, in the last place I thought I'd be, not quite as accomplished as I'd hoped to be, not as strong, as wise, as beautiful, as "wow" as I could dream, and yet still happy. So I think of that and know that no matter where this year is going to take me, all the hopes and promises I might make and might break, the one thing I am taking with me the promise of happiness and that is found in this promise...

I am an unspoiled page in your book of time.

I am your next chance at the art of living. I am your opportunity to practice what you have learned about life during the last twelve months.

All that you sought and didn't find is hidden in me, waiting for you to search it but with more determination.

All the good that you tried for and didn't achiever is mine to grant when you have fewer conflicting desires.

All that you dreamed but didn't dare to do, all that you hoped but did not will, all the faith you claimed but did not have--these slumber lightly, waiting to be awakened by the touch of a strong purpose.

I am your opportunity to renew your allegiance to Him who said, "Behold, I make all things new."

As I faced my Maker at the last judgment, I knelt before the Lord along with all the other souls. Before each of us laid our lives like the squares of a quilt in many piles. An Angel sat before each of us sewing our quilt squares together into a tapestry that is our life.

But as my angel took each piece of cloth off the pile, I noticed how ragged and empty each of my squares was. They were filled with giant holes. Each square was labeled with a part of my life that had been difficult, The challenges and temptations I was faced with in everyday life. I saw hardships that I endured, which were the largest holes of all.

I glanced around me. Nobody else had such squares. Other than a tiny hole here and there, the other tapestries were filled with rich color and the bright hues of worldly fortune. I gazed upon my own life and was disheartened. My angel was sewing the ragged pieces of cloth together, threadbare and empty, like binding air. Finally the time came when each life was to be displayed, held up to the light, the scrutiny of truth.

The others rose, each in turn, holding up their tapestries. So filled their lives had been. My angel looked upon me, and nodded for me to rise. My gaze dropped to the ground in shame.

I hadn't had all the earthly fortunes. I had love in my life, and laughter. But there had also been trials of illness, and death, and false accusations that took from me my world, as I knew it. I had to start over many times. I often struggled with the temptation to quit, only to somehow muster the strength to pick up and begin again. I spent many nights on my knees in prayer, asking for help and guidance in my life. I had often been held up to ridicule, which I endured painfully, each time offering it up to the Father in hopes that I would not melt within my skin beneath the judgmental gaze of those who unfairly judged me.

And now, I had to face the truth. My life was what it was, and I had to accept it for what it was. I rose and slowly lifted the combined squares of my life to the light. An awe-filled gasp filled the air. I gazed around at the others who stared at me with wide eyes.

Then, I looked upon the tapestry before me. Light flooded the many holes, creating an image, the face of Christ. then our Lord stood before me, with warmth and love in His eyes. He said, "Every time you gave over your life to Me, it became My life, My hardships, and My struggles. Each point of light in your life is when you stepped aside and let Me shine through, until there was more of Me than there was of you." May all our quilts be threadbare and worn, allowing Christ to shine through.

-- Author Unknown --

Christmas has come and gone, but all it stands for--family, friendship, giving, sharing, loving--remains, and it's my prayer that we never ever lose that for even one day of this coming year.

I heard the statement "It doesn't feel like Christmas time!" a lot this year, and half of it was probably me whinning soomewhere in my own head. But maybe that's what makes it time for Christmas--the ending of a long year, too much stress, a haywire household, too much to do, too little time to do it, low on finances, low on patience, losing hope. But isn't that where it all started? As the darkness sets a light appears, " a ray of hope, the weary world rejoices for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn."

Christmas is the setting, the dawning of the New Year! And so regardless of whether our Christmas is white, or green, or gray, and bright, or gloomy, or even messy, and whether we get all the gifts we had wanted or not, we will always have the greatest gift and setting of all...A NEW YEAR and a FRESH BEGINNING and CHANCE to spend time with family, make new friends, give what we have to make our dreams come true, share our time, moments, experiences and love with a world full of opportunities and love living!

So that's my wish, my hope, my prayer for you all who I love and care for so dearly. I pray that God will give you these opportunities and then help you see them all around you and take them and claim them as your own so you will truly have a Merry Christmas every day and a Happy New Year all year!

And by the way, I had a lovely Christmas despite it being less white and more gray, and less frosty and more sloppy. I spent it with all my family, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins and there is nothing else in the world that could have taken the place of that. Check out all the pictures at A Family Christmas.

THERE will be a blue moon on Thursday as New Year's Eve revellers welcome in 2010--the first time since 1990 that a blue moon has coincided with the end of the year. A blue moon--the second full moon in a calendar month--happens only every 2½ years on average. This month, full moons occur on December 2 and December 31. Astronomer David Reneke from Australasian Science magazine said it was rare for the event to happen on New Year's Eve--another blue moon will not fall on the last day of the year until 2028. "While everyone's celebrating they should also take a moment and look up into the night sky"

I just want to say thank you, for everyone that helped to make my year a merry and fill it with so much love and laughter and happiness. It wouldn't have been the same without you and that's why it's my prayer that the Lord will give all these things back to you this Christmas and in the coming year. Cheers to you!!! I love you lots and lots!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

1. Flying Alarm Clock. Evil genius at work here. A propeller-thingy on top goes flying away and the alarm won't stop until you find the propeller-thingy and put it back on the clock.

2. Puzzle Alarm Clock--That's right, put the puzzle together and the darned thing will quit buzzing at you.

3. Bombs Away! Plug in the wires correctly or the sound of a bomb blowing up will wake you. And the neighbors.

4. Donate. For those financially motivated folks, this wi-fi enabled clock takes money out of your bank account and transfers it to random charities every time you hit the snooze button.

5. Shag-a-licious--Yup, you have to stand up on the carpet to get this one to be quiet.

So, rise and shine to another beautiful day.

...and what have you done. Another year over, and a new ones just begun."

I think we all have heard that song a bit too often that our mind goes into retreat mode when we hear it playing, but today somehow it got through and got good and stuck in my brain.

On Saturday we visited our last retirement home for the season, and though one part of me heaves a small sigh of "freeeeeee...dom" another sigh is a bit more regretful. As hard as it is preparing and having to actually move out the door, once your out there everything is possible and beautiful, and having that honor and blessing of being a part of another one's life--there really is no better gift or feeling.

There are so many wonderful people out there, so many stories, so many friends, so many memories, so many special miracles that could happen, that could be yours. It can be so easy to get caught up in your own little world, the little problems, worries, limitations, responsibilities, expectations. But then you meet someone else, you see their lives, you feel what they are going through and suddenly you realize the world is a great big place and there is a part for you, not just in your own story, but in other stories, in a story that started thousands of years ago when someone realized by stepping out of His own world, He could create a new one and fill it with life and love.

And that is freedom, and so THIS is Christmas!

Thank you for this pile of dirty, stinky laundry; we have plenty of nice
clothes to wear. And I would like to thank you, Lord, for those unmade
beds; they were so warm and comfortable last night.
I know that many have no bed.

My thanks to you, Lord, for this bathroom, complete with all the
splattered mess, soggy, grimy towels and dirty lavatory; they are so
convenient. Thank you for this finger-smudged refrigerator that needs
defrosting so badly; it has served us faithfully for many years. It is full
of cold drinks and enough leftovers for two or three meals.
Thank you, Lord, for this oven that absolutely must be cleaned today;
It has baked so many things over the years.

The whole family is grateful for that tall grass
that needs mowing, the lawn that needs raking; we all enjoy the yard.
Thank you, Lord, even for that slamming screen door.
My kids are healthy and able to run and play.

Lord, the presence of all these chores awaiting me
says You have richly blessed my family. I shall do them cheerfully and I
shall do them gratefully. Even though I clutch my blanket and growl when
the alarm rings, Thank you, Lord, that I can hear. There are many who are
deaf. Even though I keep my eyes closed against the morning light as long as
possible, Thank you, Lord, that I can see. Many are blind.

Even though I huddle in my bed and put off rising,
Thank you, Lord, that I have the
strength to rise. There are many who are bedridden.
Even though the first hour of my day is hectic, when socks are lost,
Toast is burned and tempers are short, my children are so loud,
Thank you, Lord, for my family. There
are many who are lonely.

Even though our breakfast table never looks like
the pictures in magazines and the menu is at times not balanced, Thank you,
Lord, for the food we have. There are many who are hungry. Even though the
routine of my job is often monotonous, Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity
to work. There are many who have no job.
Even though I grumble and bemoan my
fate from day to day and wish my circumstances were not so modest,
Thank you, Lord, for life. LORD, THANK YOU !!!!

In ALL things, praise Him…