Scenic Sunday

Fog, mountain and trees along the Coquihalla Hwy. For more scenery around the world, see here

On My Way & Frugal Questions

Ahhhhh, I finally did something nice for myself in the last 24 hours. I had a deep conditioning hair treatment and trim last night. It felt good to see my hair swing luxuriously after a nice cut and it was sooooo soft. I haven't had a salon hair conditioning treatment for so long. I try very hard to live economically and frugally so I can send funds to Kenya. See here for the Missions of Hope a worthy mission in need of your support.

And today I broke down and got some spa treatments. I travel tomorrow and where I am going it is very dry. I decided to have a hydrating facial and paraffin treatments for the hands and feet. I haven't had a facial in about a year and half. That is really too long a period and my skin was quite clogged even though I wash religiously, exfoliate and don't wear facial make up.

I've never had a parrafin treatment for the feet before. Just once for my hands. It was a little tricky lying on a masseuse table with my face and eyes covered in gauze and a facial mask while the aesthetician is saying "stick your foot deep into the oil. put it in, put it in" and I couldn't see the darn thing!! The wax was also too hot but all in all when it was done it felt good to feel the smoothness of the skin after winter's dryness. I didn't get a pedicure this time although this is something I usually do get. All the treatments were part of a well priced spa package which also included a half hour massage. I got the lady to concentrate on my lower back and upper neck for the massage. Wow! I did not realize how tight my upper neck was. After the work was done, I felt a bit groggy and tired but in a nice way. I will sleep well tonight and travel tomorrow in a relaxed manner.

It feels nice to treat myself after a long period of self imposed austerity. If any of you are of the frugal mindset, I'd love to know whether you ever treat yourself to mani/pedis, body massage, facials and the like? If so, do you feel guilty doing it or do you consider it as something you do for your well being and health? Are there things you do in between to prolong the benefits of your facials, mani/pedis or hair treatments so that you don't have to go to the salon every month? I'd be interested in your tips and what you've learned for saving the precious hard earned dollars while at the same time looking well.

I will be traveling over the next week or so. If I have time before I leave, I will schedule a post or two to publish in my absence. Failing that I will post from my destination.

Here is a picture of where I'm going.


Stay well.

Moon Light

FULL MOON

One night as Dick lay fast asleep,
Into his drowsy eyes
A great still light began to creep
From out the silent skies.
It was the lovely moon's, for when
He raised his dreamy head,
Her surge of silver filled the pane
And streamed across his bed.
So, for a while, each gazed at each-
Dick and the solemn moon-
Till, climbing slowly on her way,
She vanished, and was gone.

By Walter de la Mare

Winner of the Giveaway

The names of the entrants to My First Giveaway were entered into a bowl.

The winner selected at random is

*Drum roll* please........

the Happy Sparrow in Australia.

I will be contacting her for the shipping address and I hope that the little one enjoys Sumi :-)
Thank you everyone for entering the giveaway. I had fun hosting it.

I hope you will take a few moments to read my posts on Haiti and Kenya.
Please don't be shy to leave comments too!

Note: I hope no one minds but I changed the cut off date by one day to have time to send the parcel before I go on my trip.

These are Kenya's Children

Some of you know that I have a friend in Kericho, Kenya who is a youth pastor. I am always trying to let others know of his work in the hopes that others would come along side him and help him with his ministry to the orphans and widows in his village and further abroad.

Since the January 2008 elections in Kenya there have been many more refugees added to the countryside. My friend and many of his colleagues go out and minister to these internally displaces people as they are enabled. You can read about his last visit to a refugee camp in the post below the photo. If you can help in this work, please let me know and I will give you the information you need. Otherwise you can pray for the people and their needs as well as the ministers and agencies who try to help. I know that many of you are focused on Haiti right now and that is a good thing. But at the same time, let us not forget about the many others who are also homeless and without food.

Hello friends,

I am sitting here and my mind is far away. I have been praying for those in Haiti and thinking about the sights and voices there that I see on the news.

Here in Kenya, I am thinking of those who are in the internally displaced people camps (IDPs). Their tents are torn and leaking. It is sad that we have a cruel world.

I am saddened more with the sight of the children, crying for help, and not knowing the dangers of over exposure to cold and bad weather. The worst thing is that they don't have enough clothes to cover them.

I also met Rachael who gave birth at the camp. We asked her how she got to her child without the services of a matron, and she said, the Lord was on her side. She appealed for help in terms of clothes and warm items to keep the baby warm as they live in the tent.

We need to stand out and pray for the hurting world. It is such a sad time for those in the IDP camps.

God Bless
Pastor Jonah