Valentine's Day Musings
Today is the the 33rd Valentine's Day I have celebrated with my dear, sweet husband!  He has never forgotten a birthday, Mother's Day or this special occasion in all that time.  He brought me roses today...on his way back from a doctor's appointment.  Even in our old age, Walter is a real romantic!
This coming weekend marks 4 years since our daughter in law's younger brother Matthew, passed away suddenly from a virus that went septic.  He would have been 15 a month later, so that means he would turn 19 next month.  Such a difficult anniversary to remember.  Thus Valentine's Day isn't very special to Amy, as it is so close to this sad time of year.
For others who have lost spouses, it is a tough day.  The one who held that special place and would give flowers or some other romantic gift, is gone.  The loneliness can become more pronounced.  Memories can cause smiles and tears.  I am thinking of those who need that extra expression of love today!
For single folks who are not in romantic relationships, some feel a sharp pang on a day like today.  When Hallmark and flower shops do one of their highest income profit days, others are feeling alone and frustrated with all the emphasis on dating and love and marriage.  Why all the fuss? Valentine's Day wasn't even originally about that kind of love, anyways.
The original festival in Roman times was "Lupercalia...which celebrated the coming of spring, including fertility rites and the pairing off of women with men by lottery." (www.britannica.com)  According to one source, this pagan festival was replaced by Pope Gelasius to honour two martyrs of the faith, both named Valentine (killed by Emperor Claudius II). In the 14th and 15th centuries, it became associated with love and romance and "lovebirds" in early spring.  by the 18th century, England had adopted this occasion for gift-giving, cards and candies. 
I am blessed to be showered with love and gifts throughout the year, and especially to be honoured on Valentine's Day as my husband's sweetheart!
And to bask in the love of God my Father, who loves me with an everlasting love.
That's what I wish and pray for my family and friends today!

It was a roller coaster of emotions!  The joy of being in the arena in Melville, the pleasure of seeing our son on the ice among some top-notch curlers and the nervousness of the competition. 
We, the fans of Daniel Selke and Team Howard, sat in the same section and made plenty of noise when cheering.  Our family was well-represented.  My step-mom, Dinah, stayed with us for the three days.  Mark drove from Gladstone; Caylea drove from Nipawin; Walter's brother Ed was watching on line and I was texting updates to my sister and Mom.  (Paula surprised us by showing up for Saturday morning.)  It was an exciting few days!
The guys curled their hearts out!  Daniel had a great event and missed very few shots.  They won three games and lost three games...so with the triple knock-out system, after the third loss, they were done.  But the fact that they made it to Saturday morning was a huge victory in their first appearance as a team at the provincial Tankard!
So proud of the team.  And so exhausted after the emotional ups and downs!
We had a couple days at home to prepare for our next adventure - Phoenix!
For the past three years, we have flown to Phoenix to meet as an Executive Team from NCEM.  This year, we had Dan and Deanna Woodard as facilitators, helping us learn more about ourselves and each other and God.  The focus was on Crucial Conversations, Crucial Accountability and Core Values.  The last day we discussed some of our current challenges and brainstormed some possible approaches for solutions.  It was encouraging to find we are on the same page in many ways.  God has brought unity and understanding over the past three years of serving together.
Thursday evening, the Phoenix Coyotes played hockey and it was "Riderville Night"!  We wore our Rider jerseys and saw lots of other Saskatchewan fans in the arena.  Fun game.
We went to the Heard Museum on Saturday, to watch the Native American Hoop Dancing competition and check out the Native displays.  Great!  Then at 5 pm we went to listen to the "Liberty Quartet", a Gospel group.  Wonderful music.  But we who are considered middle-aged, brought the average age of the crowd at that church down to 70 years old!!!  It was an enjoyable evening.  As the concert closed, I leaned over to suggest "Let's eat at Cracker Barrel", and just then Jason said he was thinking the same thing!  Southern Gospel music...southern home-cooking!  Perfect.
Sunday morning, we attended the morning worship service at Siloam Baptist Church on the Gila River Reservation.  The Southwest Indian Ministry Center where we stay and hold our workshops, are part of a mission with staff who serve as missionaries around the world.  This center has missionary/pastors on reservations in the U.S. So it was special to experience the similarities to the First Nations churches we have attended.  Some of the folks remembered us from two years ago.  The pastor preached an awesome message on Revival leading up to their special meetings this weekend.  2 Chronicles 7:14 - "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."  Powerful scripture that I remember from my first year serving at Morning Star Ministries teaching Sunday School.  We still need God's healing;  we still need to humble ourselves and pray and seek the face of the Lord!
Monday morning, our teammates were flying back to Saskatoon.  So Walter and I relaxed and cleaned up the lounge and kitchen we had used.  At coffee time, we went to say our good-byes to the SIMC staff before heading to Hobby Lobby.  Yes, we enjoy shopping at the craft and hobby shop!  Then we headed to Costco to replace Walter's carry-on luggage.  It had developed a significant hole and was not going to make it back home intact!
Finally, we still had the whole afternoon so we found a Zoo & Aquarium to hang out at.  It was a warm day, cloudy but so perfect.  We enjoyed the various monkey/gibbon/lemur section, many birds including macaws and parrots. We also saw some lions and tigers, but they are lazy and not too interesting to watch.  There was an indoor section of reptiles and a nursery of mammals.  Just as we came near a shelter, the heavens opened.  It actually rained in the desert!  So we ducked in and after about ten minutes, the rain shower passed by.  We decided to grab some lunch.  Near the restaurant was the aquarium section, so we wandered by the tanks of tropical fish, sharks and seahorses.  It was a delightful way to end our time in Phoenix.
By the time we drove to the car rental return, grabbed the shuttle back to the airport and got ourselves through security, we had about an hour to spare.  The final leg of the journey was a direct flight home.  We watched the inflight TV and napped a bit.  Landing at YQR at midnight, we retrieved our carry-on bags and texted for an Uber.  Home and in bed before 1 am.
And that's how it's done!

Daniel qualified!
A few weeks ago, Daniel curled in an event in Swift Current, with enough wins to earn points toward qualifying, plus other teams won out at the event to give that opportunity to Daniel's team.  Complicated system but it works for me!
Who cares, you may ask?  Sometimes when I comment on FaceBook about watching curling, people wonder what we see in that sport.  Like watching paint dry.  Like sticking needles into your eyes.  Yawn!  Not for our family.  So when the official announcement was made that Team Howard made it to the Saskatchewan Tankard of Men's Curling, we were ecstatic!  A goal that Daniel has made two other times, but it never gets old.
That very hour, we booked hotel rooms for the event. Being held in Melville, SK, the community has limited space and we wanted to be sure of a bed to sleep in for those nights.  Melville is about one and a half hours northeast of Regina, so too far to drive back and forth. 
And yes, we planned our leadership development workshops around the Tankard dates, so we wouldn't be out of the country like the last time Daniel curled in the provincial championship.  Oh, how conflicted we were!  Sometimes we have the option to control our own schedule; might as well enjoy that advantage now and then.
Hopefully other family members will be able to catch a part of the competition and offer support, as well.  The first time Daniel was able to participate in this event, his Grandpa, Ron Sanders, was in the hospital and passed away during that week.  Heartbreaking.  So he feels some bittersweet emotions as he prepares this time.  Grandpa would be so proud!  He'll likely be wearing the President's ring that he received when Grandpa passed away, a special keepsake from Grandpa's many years as manager of the Tartan Curling Club in Regina. 
So, yes, we are excited to go to Melville tomorrow and be spectators.  I'd say it will be relaxing and fun but not so much!  The nerves will run high.  Wouldn't miss it for all the sunshine in Phoenix!

(Daniel's skip, Steve Howard is in the top right hand corner)

-21!
I know.  I should be tough enough to handle 40 below, but we've had such a mild fall and winter that I am not my usual tough "Saskatchewan girl" self!
We are sitting in our recliners at home tonight, with fleece blankets on our laps and a space heater going full blast.  Just unloading our luggage from the vehicle after our return from Prince Albert got us chilled.  So glad we are blessed with a warm home and another safe journey.
This past week I spent catching up on emails and office tasks at the NCEM headquarters.  I have two more students inquiring about internship or volunteer opportunities with the ministry.  Plus processing two more students who are just waiting a final approval from their school to serve for three months.  Exciting!
I have a wonderful friend and coworker, Doris, who assists me in the office tasks for Personnel.  She is much more comfortable with computer work, including Excel, and keeps up with the paperwork and updating the data base.  We share an office in the lower level of the office building.  This week we acquired a copier/scanner so we don't have to run upstairs to retrieve printed materials!  Yeah!
I also take minutes for our monthly Executive meetings. Walter as General Director, the Assistant Director Jason Boucher and his wife Anita, our CFO, Bob Laird and then his wife, Doris are all part of our Executive team, with me as designated recording secretary.  So I prepare the agenda, print off copies of the previous meeting's minutes and usually provide lunch for the day of the meeting.  Keeps me busy and I like being part of the discussions and setting direction for the ministry.
So besides Personnel and Executive team responsibilities, I also send birthday, anniversary and  sympathy cards to our staff.  With 140 active and 40+ retired/honorary members, I have several greetings to send each month.  I like doing that particular ministry and also send out cards to our Healing Hearts staff.
Three mornings a week, the staff at headquarters -  office, Tribal Trails and Printshop staff - meet for chapel time first thing.  We treasure that value of NCEM on prayer and worship together.  I play guitar and have shared devotional thoughts on occasion.  Walter spoke this past week and it's good he can have a preaching outlet once in a while!
Walter also had a meeting that he participated in with the NCEM board of directors via ZOOM. 
It was a full week.
Wednesday, the weather forecast was for a storm system to come through Saskatchewan and sure enough, it went from barely a smattering of snow to eight inches!  Our maintenance guy loves pushing the snow with our little Bobcat.  By next morning, some nice snowpiles had grown and we could navigate our way to the office!
Oh, I forgot.  I was asked to read some Scripture passages for use on the Tribal Trails programs.  So if you happen to watch our program on TV (find the schedule on the Tribal Trails website), Listen in the next few months for my voice!
And once again, we can only say we have made it through another week by the grace of the Lord!

CAN IT BE THE YEAR "2020" ALREADY???
     The advent season went by quickly with so many events and special celebrations!
We got back from Prince Albert to join our Healing Hearts Regina/Caronport folks for a Christmas party at the Copper Kettle Restaurant.  They have a nice sized party room to hold our 20+ group.  We sat at several tables set together in a long row.  The food was tasty and the atmosphere fun!  After dinner and dessert, we moved our chairs into a semi-circle and placed the gifts we each brought for the gift exchange game.  As usual, the competition and craziness made for some awesome laughs and special memories.
     That was Saturday night.  Sunday morning was the HHM Sunday School Program and turkey dinner.  Although a small crowd this year, we had a special time with singing the familiar Christmas carols and enjoying the simple Christmas play.  I helped organize and prompt the kids to come on "stage" at the right time.  Caylea had a small part and the Sunday School teacher's husband also had a few lines and a prop to carry in!  The message of Jesus' birth never grows old.  Such a mystery!  Such a miracle!
     There was plenty of food and an intimate time of sharing around tables. Walter had woken up with a congested chest and was exhausted!  So he actually missed this, our 26th Christmas dinner and program.  Wow!  Lord Jesus, You are worthy to receive honour and we trust You have been pleased with our offering!  Thankfully, Walter recovered within a couple days and didn't end up with a winter cold or long-lasting cough.
     The next week we enjoyed our home and preparations for the family celebrations.  I cooked and baked at a leisurely pace.  Caylea and her dad made their "nuts & bolts" mixture.  I made "Hello Dollies", "Raising Cookies", Apple Kuchen and Caylea also made "Nutchos". 
     Presents began to arrive at our front door or in our mailbox.  Christmas cards also arrived, filled with warm greetings and some with paper "gifts" tucked inside!  God has blessed us with so wonderful friends, family and even people who don't know us that well but follow His leading to support us and pray for us in ministry.  We are overwhelmed especially at this time of year, with extra gifts from generous folks.  Other times we may seem to struggle or have needs, but God's provision has never failed.
     As the gifts began piling up underneath our Christmas tree, I was having a hard time being patient for our family to gather.  I planned a fondue supper for after our Christmas Eve Candlelight service at 6 pm.  When Mark & Amy arrived around 7:30 pm, my heart was full!  My holidays were complete!
     I was able to sing and play guitar and lead worship a few times over the advent season.  What a huge blessing!  I so enjoy the Christmas music and the themes that never cease to be filled with awe and wonder at our Saviour's coming.  The carol "O Come All Ye Faithful" seemed especially meaningful to me this year, to come to the Lord in worship and adoration.  Taking the time and casting all the busy activity aside throughout the season just to offer praise and love is so sweet.  Not easy to do but so worthwhile.  Funny how all the "things" eventually get done in time for Christmas, or somehow the priorities shift, when we take time to worship the King.
     The Christmas Day at my step-brother and sister-in-law's house went very well.  Delicious turkey dinner, games and gift exchange game were all so pleasant and peaceful.  On our drive home, the big "Light Display" at one house set to music and video presentation was amazing!  It had been featured on the news when someone ran over the lights and ruined some of it earlier in December.  So we sat and watched and listened for a couple of songs. Quite an experience!
     Boxing Day was held at our house with more family time:  karoake, chicken tortilla casserole and saskatoon pie, card games of course and a movie, I think!  Mark always brings a selection of his latest movie choices and we watched a few.  Relaxing time for us at the end of the day.
     My Mom and Grandma came up on December 29 after our church service for lunch and a game of Crokinole.  It was nice to have a visit and that our kids could all see their "Grandmas"!
     That about wraps up our holiday festivities.  Walter and I waved good bye to our kids as they went home to Manitoba, or to Daniel down the road to his own condo or to Caylea off to Saskatoon for New Years!  Its been lonely and quiet but also nice to rest at home.  We know the new year will be busy with more travel, a missions conference and Bible school class and other upcoming events. 
     Stay tuned for updates as 2020 unfolds.  God is good!

Since my last blog entry, Walter and Daniel have returned from their adventure in Jacksonville.  By the photos and accompanying narratives, I think they had a great trip!  The story and architecture of St. Augustine sounded like a special piece of American history.  The Zoo is always a highlight of any trip Walter takes.  They had Pandas, which looked adorable.  And they enjoyed some BBQ and Joe's Crab Shack as restaurant experiences.
Then we jumped into the SUV and drove up to Prince Albert for a couple days.  The temperature was so cold!  I had tried texting Dave and Joanna, our neighbours at the NCEM office, who would turn up the heat in the suite for us.  But somehow I had the wrong number and so we arrived to a very chilly living space!  We unpacked, cranked the heat and even turned on the oven to thaw the suite. Then we went over to the office to putter around and warm ourselves up!
Office life is challenging for us as we are more free spirits and used to setting our own hours.  We want to connect with people and office hours are built more for task orientation.  So we make adjustments and hope we can accomplish both people ministry and administrative tasks.  I think that is what tires me out - the switching back and forth!
We had our staff Christmas party for the Prince Albert and office folks.  It was a wonderful evening of potluck ethnic foods, Christmas carols and a devotional by a guest pastor.  We had time to visit, which was nice and relaxing.  As usual, we were almost the last to leave!
The next day was our monthly Executive meeting, which lasted all day.  I entered the office building in the dark at around 8:20 am.  I don't think I went upstairs once during the day - the boardroom is in the lower level of our two-story building.  So as the meeting adjourned and I emerged from the windowless boardroom, I saw it was dark again. 
I stepped outside and breathed in the northern Saskatchewan chilly air.  Refreshing.  A feeling of peace and satisfaction that it had been a productive day settled over me.  I needed to refocus on people, and the Lord! 
Today...I look back at those couple of days with our NCEM team at the headquarters office.  I appreciate what they do.  I wouldn't want to do their jobs, just as they are glad NOT to have our responsibilities!  The office team is a uniquely gifted group who are obeying what God has shown them to do in service for the kingdom.  Their lifestyle is much more "9-5", but they go above and beyond when needed.  I am thankful for their faithfulness and diligence and heart for prayer!  I wish we weren't missing the "Day of Prayer" today but we weren't able/willing to be back up to P.A. for this week again.  Limitations of our human bodies and emotional energy, as well.
THANK YOU Lord, for calling each of us to serve where You want us, and for equipping us for the tasks and ministry styles needed in Your kingdom.  Fill us all afresh with Your Holy Spirit, both in NCEM and Healing Hearts, as we strive to point the way to Jesus, the Saviour, born for us all. 

Another week flies by...another week at home which has been so good!
I am thankful for the restfulness of routine. I've been able to get some Christmas shopping done, my new book mailed out, and even tried baking a new shortbread recipe.
Walter and Daniel left early this morning for their annual NFL guys weekend.  Jacksonville, FL this year.  Mark has gone with them a couple of times, but his work schedule and availability don't always work out!
So a quiet weekend?  Not likely.  Even though I am still trying to slow down and focus on rest, I have some pressing things going on.
A dear woman helped me with the editing of my new devotional book and I want to thank her.  I am taking her for lunch tomorrow.  Swiss Chalet.  So glad for all Pat's help in fine tuning and finessing my words.
Then tomorrow night is the Parliament Community Church's Christmas Tea.   A lovely way to focus on the reason for the season with my sister, my step mom and my daughter. 
My Mom's sister, Auntie Katherine, has been undergoing chemotherapy and had surgery for cancer.  Now she is awaiting the next phase of treatment: radiation.  So I've tried to visit her when I'm in the city and I have a Scrabble date with her Saturday afternoon.
Sunday is church day.  Always.  It is a special service, with several of our church folks taking the step of baptism!  One is a young girl who Caylea has been mentoring in the youth group.  So exciting!
Today I had procrastinated in doing some computer/email work.  I cleaned up the kitchen, then I finished wrapping the presents I had bought.  But I made a cup of tea and settled in to do some work.  Usually I am not a night person, but Caylea was gone and our boarder, Kaila, also had left for the evening.  So I eventually buckled down and got three projects finished in a couple of hours.  Wow!  I impressed myself.
Now, I'm treating myself to a Christmas movie.
I am thankful for the blessings the Lord has given me.