My List

I am a task oriented, list person with a short attention span. Problem is I'm 44 years old and I have just figured this out.

I think maybe it has something to do with all the things I want to accomplish in one day. Tony gets so exasperated with me. "Pick one thing and finish it!" he blusters. It drives him crazy... I tell him that Oprah calls it multi-tasking. He doesn't care what Oprah calls it.

I love my daily "to-do" list and there is nothing like the thrill of adding another checkmark to that list. (Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about.) My goal (usually unattainable) is to have everything checked off that day. The problem is that if it doesn't get on the list it's not going to happen. Tony thought he'd be funny and added his own ideas to my list one day.... things like "breathe" and "blink" were on the bottom. Very funny.

I've come by this habit quite honestly. My mother has lists everywhere, usually on little yellow post-it notes stuck in obvious, make-sure-I-don't-forget places. My father has kept a coil notebook for his lists for as long as I can remember.

I don't understand how people can function without a list. I've tried it and it's not pretty. Usually I end up somewhere, like Safeway, wandering aimlessly.

So what is my point in my Blog today? I'm not sure, but now I can put a check mark in front of "Write in blog" on my list.

"Thanks God... I Found it!"

Have you ever thought that there are just too many wonderful things in this world for you to absorb? That God made this world with so many hidden gems & secrets just for you to find?

I have. I think that all the time, every day.

Yesterday Tony and I went geo-caching in a little known park north of Campbell Valley Park and the moment we stepped off the road onto the trail I was in awe of the beauty around me. The trees were dripping with bright green moss and huge ferns grew all around. It was like stepping onto a green painter's palette. I never knew this little park existed and I've lived in Langley for almost 40 years! Can you imagine what else is out there for us to find?


Like I said, we were geo-caching - one the hottest new hobbies to take hold of people these days. In a nutshell this is what you do.... you use your GPS unit to locate a box with specific co-ordinates. The box (or geo-cache) has been hidden somewhere on the planet. They are hidden everywhere, (that's me pulling a cache out of a tree) with little trinkets and a logbook inside. There are thousands just in the lower mainland. It's so addictive, the moment you say the words, "found it!!" you are ready to find the next one.

Why is it that we don't treat God's hidden wonders the same way? I truly believe that God made all this just for our enjoyment. And what do we do? We race by, going 120 on the freeway because we have to "get there." One of the greatest lessons I learned from my parents was that the holiday, the adventure, your day-to-day life, begins the moment you leave the driveway, not when you arrive at your destination. God must truly puzzle over the way we race around His planet, trying to keep up, missing everything.


Thank you God for Your creation. Please help me appreciate what a gift it truly is.

Everything I Learned From Washing Dishes

For the past three Thursdays Tony & I have been washing the dishes for the Marriage Course Dinner at our Church. I told him, "It will be fun" and he agreed to it, though he wasn't too sure about the "fun" part.

After three weeks this is what I know for sure:

• Our church dishwasher rocks - I want one just like it.
• My husband is a much better cleaner than he has let on.
• Apricot stuffed ham is so yummy.
• The care groups in our church are simply amazing... I've never seen so many happy, willing people in the kitchen.
• Serving others is so good for your heart.
• We're signed up for next time.