A Busy Month Unfolding

The remarkable thing is, we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude 

we will embrace for that day.

Charles R. Swindoll

Hello everyone, I hope you've been having a good week so far. 

I've been busy with this and that.

 I have a friend who is applying to university in my city. The process is complicated, labourious and expensive.  I've been helping him get things sorted out. We are very close to the wire (upon the deadline). Please keep him in prayer.

I have another friend who has just moved to a new apartment and needs a few things. I've been checking out my cupboards and the thrift store for some unique items to donate to his kitchen and he has been taking things home little by little. I thank God that he has at last found a place of his own after living in several different unsuitable sharing situations.

Salad tongs from Africa for my friend's kitchen. They just need a bit of oil to" freshen" them up.

I have a mother in care who has multiple needs & every day brings news of something else.  Some needs relate to her care, some  relate to her material needs & some of them relate to the need for medical appointments. It keeps me busy. 

I thank God mom is still here and that small progress is made here and there though there are days I get very exhausted. Sometimes the progress is hard to see but I try to keep hope. 

We are also still waiting for a room at the new care facility. I hope it will be soon.

I met with my Tanzanian friend and a new Italian friend at the start to the weekend. I've spoken with the woman from Italy before but it was my first opportunity to meet her. She wanted to learn about my experiences in East Africa as she planned to travel there but was a little nervous.  Several weeks before meeting her I spoke with her by telephone.  Since then she has made arrangements to travel to both Kenya and Tanzania soon. How exciting for her. I wish I was going too!

I started going for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatments once again; primarily for the pain in my knees. The last time I tried TCM  was about 2 years ago. At that time I didn't experience a lot of relief.  But this time I am not only getting acupuncture but am also taking herbs. After about 5 weeks I am starting to feel relief though it will take months yet before real and lasting change might occur.

The last bit of Moroccan stew I've been enjoying.

 The TCM doctor suggested that I not eat rice, not even brown rice. I'm not sure I agree with that but it doesn't really matter because I eat very little rice of any kind since rice isn't my favourite. I prefer barley to rice. I also eat cous cous, bulgar and quinoa as well as a bit of pasta. 

 I also try to eat beans but now and then get out of the habit because I prefer to soak my own beans rather than buy them in a can. I started back to soaking beans this week and made some Moroccan stew with chick peas (yum!).

Tomorrow I hope to make some navy bean soup. These kind of soups and stews are perfect food for the cooler winter months.

Soaked and cooked beans ready for Navy Bean Soup.

Last but not least I am reading my Bible and some other works. I've just finished a book called "Minding Frankie" by one of my very favourite authors, the late Maeve Binchy.  The book is about Noel, a young alcoholic man who turns his life around to care for Frankie, a baby girl left to him by her deceased mom whom Noel dated briefly.  The book is really about a cast of characters in a small Irish town as most of Mrs. Binchy's books are.  But Noel and Frankie are the core characters around which the other character's lives are intertwined.

Reading Maeve Binchy's books are always like sitting down with a warm comfy blanket and cup of tea in front of a roaring fireplace. I've almost read every single one of her books.

I picked this book up at the thrift store.

Last Friday after meeting my friends, I made a stop at the local library where I checked out 4 books.  I also picked up a couple more books, some novels and one cookbook for experimenting in the kitchen at the thrift (2nd hand shop) store.

I'm afraid I haven't had the  space of mind to do any more crafting since before Christmas. That might happen in February.

With a new year comes new changes. I was saddened to learn that I will no longer be able to sponsor children in Zambia. For whatever reasons the school sponsorship and pen pal program have been stopped and the children are no longer available for sponsorship.  I will be updating the information on my blog page in due time. I still have to update the blog page to introduce my new correspondence child in Ethiopia.

Also, I wanted to mention that Elvis, the young Kenyan man who is doing a diploma in medicine and surgery is expected to graduate in about one year. I'm still trying to get some sponsorship help for him. What remains to be funded is one semester of tuition (close to $500 Canadian) and monthly living costs (room and board & pocket money) until August 2014 (about $100 Canadian), as well as books for a term (about $65 Canadian).
If you can help, please do contact me.

I've put a lot in this post as I'm not posting quite as frequently this month though I am still visiting blogs that I keep up with.  I hope you are all enjoying your New Year so far. 
Enjoy the rest of your week!

Linking up with Our World Tuesday this week.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

It's raining; it's pouring.

The old man is snoring.

He went to bed and bumped his head,

And he wouldn't get up in the morning.

Did you sing this song as a child too? I don't remember where I learned it or at what age in school but I've never forgotten it.  In those days I lived in a small city where it seldom rained except prairie type downpours in the summer month. These downpours came complete with thunder claps and light shows (lightening). Some days or nights I would be babysitting and when the thunder and lightening began at the same time, I was terrified.  I can remember it would be so loud and the lightening would literally light up the entire house (with lights off) as we were taught to unplug and disconnect all power sources once a big storm came through.

Photo:  Looking toward downtown and False Creek from the waiting room of a doctor's office.  You can make out the reflected lights of the doctors office, some chairs and a person in the corner (bottom right).

Once or twice I remember we kids hid under the bed because the lightening was so powerful and it was difficult to escape. Our house had windows all over the place and the front room had a whole row of windows and more in the front porch.

It's funny what you remember from childhood. To this day I do not like rain storms that come with thunder and lightening at the same time. The few times I have been on the Canadian prairies when this kind of storm came up was rather terrifying too.

Photo:  Looking west on West Broadway, Vancouver, BC. I'm in the waiting room of a doctor's office hence the reflected lights.
You can make out the reflected lights of the doctor's office.

Where I live now we get a lot of rain so I always think of the little nursery rhyme about the pouring rain. Our rain storms don't usually come with thunder and lightening at the same time and when they do, the lightening doesn't light up my home like a Christmas tree!

Thank God for small mercies.

It's been pouring rain all day today and very windy tonight. That usually means a clear sky the next day. Indeed some sunshine is forecast for tomorrow but then it is rain for another week.

It was a very busy day today filled with phone calls and appointments.

I did manage to finally get to the movie

"Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom".

I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend it.
Idris Elba is a formidable presence on the screen and captures the essence of Mandela very well. Naomi Harris also does a wonderful job portraying Winnie Mandela.

Here is trailer of this touching & inspiring movie.

I hope you are all staying warm and dry wherever you are.

I will be joining in with Skywatch Friday 

and

Weekend Reflections

and add the links later :-)