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- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Our church is putting on a Vacation Bible School this week, and I am finally able to help out this year! (thanks, mat leave :) ) There are a ton of pictures because we have a resident photographer capturing moments around the church each day at all the different stations, but I don't have access to those pictures yet sooo enjoy this text-only post :)
Only one day has passed by, and I am already feeling so blessed and sustained by God since I am definitely operating outside of my comfort zone. I am in charge of the kitchen, which is not a small undertaking for a full-day camp with two snack times and a break for lunch! Fortunately the campers bring a packed lunch, and we have it set up so that each day one group helps me prepare the first snack for everyone. Today there was a possibly miraculous intervention
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
I have sore feet tonight after spending the day at the Royal Ontario Museum. A group of friends joined us to spend Esther's second-last day in Toronto together, and it was great to finally check out this landmark of my city. There were way too many exhibits and artifacts to see in one day, but my brain is overwhelmed with everything I did get to see, from dinosaur bones to Victorian-era bedrooms, marble busts and ancient Asian pottery. Torre slept through most of it, but Matt and I are both excited to share experiences like this with him when he is older and actually interested in things like dinosaurs or ancient Egypt or animals from around the world. We did try to take some pictures, but Torre was tired (read: miserable), so none of them look like any memories we want to hold on to.
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Ah how I love the miscellany I get to write about on Thursdays! From daily life to spiritual life to sarcastic reflections on pregnancy, it's just so nice to have this outlet for sharing three things at a time :) With that said, I am pleased to announce three firsts that Torre's had this week!
1. First stroller outing sitting forward instead of strapped into the car seat attachment (the huggies box is not product placement but a simple testimony to our messy apartment these days)
2. First baby cereal
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Just a quick note that we have all returned safely home from a two week trip to the East Coast! Our travel-happy family had a great experience that I am looking forward to posting about, especially after a 3 week break from blogging :) I knew I'd be away from the computer during our trip, but I did not know that I'd leave my cell phone behind in Toronto (whoops), and it was very interesting to be cut off from those means of communication/distraction.
Anyways, there is lots to catch up on, and the first thing will be sleep! Bye for now.
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
I am so happy that today is Thursday, for I have a couple random thoughts I was thinking about blogging, but they really don't relate in the traditional sense of a post. However, I can see God's blessing in all of them, so today I will share 3 things I'm grateful to God for:
- Yesterday I took the subway downtown and ended up stuck. The station I went to was under construction to "improve accessibility," which makes sense because there was no way for me to get above ground with Torre in the stroller. There was one escalator going up, but there were stairs down and up to get to it. I asked the ticket guy if there was any way out, and he said I needed to take the subway back a few stops to get above ground and just walk. He suggested I ask someone to help me just take the stroller up the stairs.
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Happy Canada Day! It may not really be a day off this year (Torre doesn't know what a stat holiday is), but I am very grateful to have this country as my home. I like our colourful money and the fact we put u's in more words than Americans. I love our maternity leave and free health care, decent schools and relative lack of corruption. I enjoy that there is French on my cereal boxes. It may not be perfect, but Canada has certainly been a wonderful place to grow up and now to be raising a family in.
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
That was the gist of my dad's sermon this morning, which really spoke to me despite the fact that my attention was divided between sermon and baby (I'm always glad when God gets himself through my distraction and confusion). I definitely have the tendency to idealize the future, to think that when certain circumstances come my way or when something changes that then I'll have the energy/passion/desire to do more for God and be my best self.
On a related note, I was struck by the line in a hymn this morning: "my richest gain I count but loss" and thought how the accomplishments I'm striving for will be really disappointing if I achieve them and then realize that pursuing them instead of a close walk with Jesus has cost me in my relationship with God. I have been playing a dangerous little mind game with myself lately in which I mask selfish motives with spiritual lip service - God wants me to be happy, right? And he's a great big God, so he can use me wherever I go and whatever I do. So I should just do whatever I want and let him chase after me sprinkling spiritual confetti on my pursuit of personal fulfillment. It's embarrassing to realize how thin of a facade I've been hiding behind and fooling myself into neglecting prayerful discernment and submission to his direction.
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
I am technically on vacation, although blogging is not a job, and parenting doesn't really allow for breaks at this stage, so it could just be that I am having a month-long change of scenery. Posts here might be a bit fewer and farther between as I make the most of time with family and soak up the beauty of Canada's west coast :)
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Matt and I went car shopping yesterday. BLAT is on its last legs, and we are hoping our next vehicle will be more reliable for us over the next several years. The car we test drove today was nice, but not the right price, and the sales guy was merciless in his haggling. He stood firm on the asking price despite some obvious work the car would need, so we walked away (literally - to the bus stop), but it was a good experience for us to confirm what is important in the next car we buy.
The most interesting part of the day for me was reading through the CarFax print-out that laid out the history of the car. We could see how many owners the car had, how much mileage each owner put on the car, and whether there had been any accidents or other claims (such as the car being stolen or vandalized). This car had a pretty clean record, but it got me thinking - what if people came with a printed out history? Would it make relationships easier or harder if we could know everyone's past right off the bat?
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
It is my first Mother's Day to be a mother. Three months into this new role, however, it doesn't always feel real. After all, I feel like the same person inside as I was last year and the year before, but today I'm being celebrated.
Some people have asked if I'm excited for my first Mother's Day, but the fact is that it hasn't really connected for me. Reality is still settling in that I have a child, and that he will one day call me Mom. I am glad this holiday exists but not because I want extra attention or appreciation; if anything makes this Mother's Day extra special or unique, I think it's because it is the first year that I have really appreciated my own mom.