A Change in Perspective

I have been challenged recently to look at the obstacles in my life from a different perspective.  This is an old lesson that I need to re-learn: “embracing a challenge as an opportunity”.  Phil used to be involved in experiential learning programs. He would take students into the mountains or wilderness, let them experience natural challenges,and guide and encourage them through it... 

…the result was growth, maturity and change.  Mentally I know that challenge develops perseverance which leads to growth and maturity. However when, from my point of view, the challenges are situations that are flawed, wrong, or don’t appear to have a long term purpose in them, such as a sickness, injustice, or…a 7-year bill for German back taxes... I seem to see myself as a “victim of the circumstance”.   I then tend to take it on as a battle (which in reality looks like a lot of complaining, bitterness and whining) instead of  seeing God as the sovereign Lord of my life who does not let anything escape His grip.  Do I believe that?  Yes I do!  So if I do, why don’t I live as if I do?  What keeps me stuck in this ”victim” perspective?

I’ve been studying the books of Acts and Romans with a wonderful group of women here in Steinbach.  This has been one of the highlights of my week. There are about 15 of us, ages 21-80, who just want to study God’s book.  It is sooo cool!!
To be honest Romans is not the book I would have chosen.  I had to take it in my grade 12 Bible class and I don’t remember it being all that exciting.  Lots of hard words like sanctification, law, faith, sovereignty... doctrines, lots of foundational principals…this a challenge for a “doer” like me. But it is exactly the right book for me right now. Last week in our teaching we were discussing the situation in which Paul wrote Romans.  It was on his 3^rd missionary journey and he had this huge longing to get to Rome, even though he knew something “bad” was going to happen there.  He knew it, people warned him, but he knew he had to go.  Not for one moment did he think that this particular “bad” (like going to prison and eventually getting killed) was not part of God’s plan. Wow! That is submission.  That is single-minded living to the fullest, not letting any scary circumstance get in the way of the course set ahead.
 

So I can look at the challenge of a 7-year German back tax bill, or Phil’s new responsibilities of providing education for the most marginalized children of our world with minimal funding, chronic back pain, even a winter of living through the second coldest winter in Manitoba in 100 years (couldn’t help but put that in there) as being circumstances that are not out of God’s control, and that he will use it all to bring about growth in us, others and His kingdom.

So what am I afraid of? I'll put on those new perspective glasses and go for the goal!

Winter trivia:

Various uses for a blow dryer here in Manitoba:

1. Freeing up frozen water pipes ( yes, my dear friend Ev was doing this last week)
2. Un-thawing frozen door knobs to get into your house
3. See video clip: 
4. Blow-drying your hair

Connections of one heart on the prairies….

Sitting in my cozy little apartment here in the Manitoba prairies, my thoughts have been jumping to children and schools all over the globe today. Phil and I woke up feeling overwhelmed, talking about his new job with Open Schools working with the marginalized street children in parts of southern Africa.  

During breakfast had a motivating Skype call with my brother Tim, who was in France visiting my parents. We discussed thoughts on how learning really takes place. Does knowledge alone make a difference? How is learning in the 21st century different?.... and how does any of this apply to kids who don’t have enough to eat, a pillow to lay their head on at night or someone who is there to care about them? Can it make a difference?  

Later in the day I was on another Skype call with TeachBeyond’s regional director to Eurasia, discussing an exciting opportunity in a very closed country to start one of the first Christian value based schools there. How exciting! So many open doors of opportunities! 

One of our school projects in Congo

Just a couple of minutes ago I was looking into the logistics of my next flight to Kinshasa in the Congo to help in the planning of a school there.  

Why take on these challenges?  Why invest in projects that most days seems to me like an uphill battle; fighting against the lack of finances, governments that don’t support the values we believe to be central for true transformation, our own feelings of inadequacy?

Well Phil reminded me why the other day. He said: Because if teaching the 10 year old girl who lives on a garbage dump, to read and do some basic math can perhaps keep her from having to sell her body several times a day to buy a little bit of food to survive, or if helping start a school in Congo can be one step closer to helping influence a healthy  change in that country which has been exploited so many times by other countries, then it is worth our trying"……Example of God using the “underdog” flood my mind and lead me to persevere and in faith keep saying: " Yes Lord, I am willing."

…We passed this sign the other day on our way to Winnipeg.

 At first it made me chuckle. What? Way up here?  In the cold? The heart of the North American continent? Yes it is true. Geographically it is and I can also say: a beautiful, open, generous, gracious, warm and welcoming heart it is indeed.

 My thoughts took it one step further. I thought about my day and the connections I made, just “little me”, with the globe around me. I want the Jesus in my heart to connect with the world around me. Maybe a little bit like the heart of Winnipeg.

... Amazing that God uses us to connect His heart to others.

Crazy Cold on the Prairies

Snow Waves

Crazy Cold on the Prairies

You know it is REALLY cold when the weather makes the headlines on the prairies of Canada and uses words such as: intense,frigid, longest, coldest. I’m still not sure why they call it a “cold snap” because in my mind a “snap” is something that doesn’t last very long.  This cold snap has lasted over 6 weeks!!   This morning it was -33 C/ -27 F , the windchill -45 C.  My Canadian friends and family say: “Just for you Tammy. You get to experience a real Canadian prairie winter!”

I have to be honest with you, this is quite an adjustment for me. I don’t find that I am a natural at hibernating and I find the extreme of these natural winter elements  (cold, wind) push me out of my comfort zone and challenge my choice of attitude and action towards it.  How I choose to respond and look at what for me is a challenge can define the way I see the world around me. I am wanting to learn and hoping to grow. Phil and Alex, my real Canadian men, are loving the cold and snow and constantly encouraging me….and Amanda and I, who is staying with us for a month after having graduated this December from Wheaton college ... well, we joined the health club today. :-)

So once again it comes down to a choice and I can even say that because of the temperature there are so many things that I am thankful for on these cold prairie days !

Here are a few of them…

Walk in the snow with Amanda who just graduated from College and is spending some time with us up north!

The beauty of winter!

Time for tea with my hubby!

A warm home to play games together

Our favorite game "Settlers of Catan"

Cozy times of visiting with Oma!

...and I could mention many more :-)

Canadian Generosity

Since arriving in Canada at the beginning of September I have heard of at least 10 different fundraising opportunities.  Whether it was Alex's middle school fundraising by selling vegetable packages to provide food for families in the community who need it, or our Steinbach church organizing a banquet to raise money for the typhoon-stricken country of the Philippines,  or various concerts and other events providing opportunities to GIVE. It seems to be coming from all sides. I have asked around to see if this year was unusual.  "Oh no," they tell me.  "This is just how things are done here. We expect it and we just get involved where and when we can."  Just today I read on the Web that Canada is the 3rd most generous country in the world.

"Christmas Open House" Fundraiser

Today I went on a fundraiser "open house tour".  Different families in the Church opened up their beautiful homes for a Christmas tour, sold Christmas crafts, offered hot apple cider and cookies. The money is going towards a building project.  It was a ton of fun!














I am finding the "normalcy" of helping others by giving or acts of service so refreshing.  Maybe it is because many of the people who have come to live in this part of the world have themselves been the recipient's of other people's generosity or maybe they just realize that there is so much joy in helping others and that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Whatever the reason, It is GOOD!

Morning thoughts...

.."My soul doth magnify the Lord,.." (Lk. 1:46)

Woke up this morning to the an unusual quietness in the air. 

It's a snow day. No school.  Alex's first one here in Manitoba. 

 Phil and Alex are still sleeping, so I snuck upstairs, made myself a cup of black tea and cozied up on my "princess chair" to spend some time with my Creator.  How I love these times.

I've been reading a devotional by Ann Voskamp. I would call her one of my spiritual mentors in the last 2 years.  Her main theme:  Giving thanks.  Listing your thanks, writing them down, giving thanks always in all circumstances..  A life lesson. Something to be practiced over and over again...

So Mary's response, " My soul doth magnify the Lord.." to the angel announcing she was to be the mother of the savior of the world was praise, thankfulness, acceptance...yielded to God's will for the purpose of others. Wow!  

When I was back in Austria a month ago I visited a very good friend who had just buried her husband of 26 years.  We cried together, talked memories, did the things good friends do as well.

 Sitting in the train on my way back to Germany, recalling the precious moments we had had together.

I felt a peace about her life, her future. Why was that..?  For me it was her attitude of yielding to God's will..."your will be done". Not by renouncing her sorrow, anger, or questions she might never have answers for, but by yielding and allowing the person she claims to be savior and King of her life to take the wheel.

Last night when praying with Alex before he went to sleep I was lead to pray that he would have the awareness that he has a God who goes before him, stands behind him and walks beside him at all time.... therefore whom shall he fear.(Chris Tomlin's song "Whom shall I Fear" is one of my favorites at the moment).

So may our souls magnify the Lord today because, using Ann Voskamp's words:

You are the Giver infinitely greater than the sum of all gifts and how can I not slow and bow? Bow right now and worship. Kneel throughout the day in gratitude. Slow, wherever I am, in adoration.

A Fun, Full, Thanksgiving Week End!

Leaving the great white north..

Well, we woke up to snow, lots of snow, the morning of our departure for Minneapolis to meet up with Michael and Amanda for American Thanksgiving. 

Have you ever seen a Virginia license plate with a power cable wrapped around it'? What is that cord for, you ask?  Well, up here in the great white north, those of us who don't have a garage need to plug in our cars so that they don't freeze up and you can't start the motor the next day when you are trying to get your son to his 8 am violin lesson across town. So we have electrical outlets in our parking lots, even outside of some grocery stores...or we just leave our car running (to my environment-conscious daughter's horror).

A BFA Thanksgiving reunion

What fun to meet up with our two college kids and 14 other BFA alumni at friends in Minneapolis to celebrate Thanksgiving together.  

The Turkey Run

No, we didn't run after a turkey to catch and eat it for our dinner....that might be kind of fun actually. We decided to go on an actual 5 or 10 K run around Lake of the Isles in MInneapolis with our homemade T-shirts , which we all "enthusiastically" made that morning.

Turkey t-shirt production

 The Turkey Runners

Lake of the Isles, Minneapolis, MN

Thankful Hearts

It was moving to sit around a beautifully decorated Thanksgiving table enjoying a time of friendship, memories, yummy food and listening to our "kids" share what they were thankful for in the last couple of months. It makes a heart glad to listen to young people express their gratefulness...

...great friends at college

...a place to live after I finish college

...friends in my new Canadian school

...my sister

...a good supportive church

BFA Thanksgiving Gang

                        

We had some more fun, crazy days...and yes we did go shopping for the first time in my life on "Black Friday" at the Mall of America of all places. Enjoyed staying with our very good friends Scott and Lisa Countryman and their off-the-wall dogs, Gracy and Zoe.  Also got to witness live the engagement of Elizabeth Kronk, one of Amanda's very good friends,to Jon.

Recording in Germany and on the Prairies

A few weeks ago.  I ( Tammy) was in Germany to take part in a very special "live worship recording" that our Church in Germany "G5" was producing. This was more than an enjoyable time.  It was for me a culmination of years of watching and walking a long side a very young church to today seeing the young people I sometimes "mothered" and patiently prayed for, now write songs that are in a beautiful way pointing to God, His person, His love and our need for Him involved in our lives.

The worship service was what can I say,... beautiful!

Yesterday afternoon I got to spend a couple hours in the studio with my brother in law JP who was helping the project with some voice-overs still needed.
Was a ton of fun spending time with him.  His professionalism, fun-loving manner and positive encouragement could make most anyone feel and sound like a nightingale!!

John and I in his studio (Private Ear Recording) in Winnipeg.  Thanks you John!!

The CD, called "Vater Unser", will come out sometime in April.  It will be one of the first "live worship recording CD's"  by a German church in Germany. I'll let you know when it comes out.

Thankful and blessed to be able to connect the work in Germany to the prairies of Manitoba.